Stoke move to beat Fiorentina for Bolton fullback Alonso

Stoke City have made an offer for Bolton Wanderers fullback Marcos Alonso.
The Daily Mail says Stoke are making a bid to sign Bolton left-back Alonso in a £500,000 deal.
Alonso is close to sealing a pre-contract move to Italian giants Fiorentina that will see him head to Italy in June.
But Tony Pulis is in desperate need of a left-back and is hoping to persuade Alonso to stay in England instead.
Fiorentina are willing to pay £200,000 to land the Spaniard, 22, before the transfer window closes.

Fiorentina silent over Alonso link

FIORENTINA have given no indication that they will make a second bid for defender Marcos Alonso before tomorrow’s transfer deadline.
The Serie A club had a verbal bid turned down for Alonso last week but have not followed up their interest.
The Spanish full-back has rejected the offer of a new contract at the Reebok and a transfer fee would be set by tribunal if he moved on in the summer – although part of that fee would also be passed on to Real Madrid.
Alonso produced a man-of-the-match performance against Everton at the weekend, and Dougie Freedman does not expect him, Stuart Holden or Kevin Davies, who also find themselves coming to the end of their current deals, to allow their situation to affect their performances on the pitch.
“They signed the contract, they know the deal,” he said.
“Is it unsettling? I wouldn’t say that. When you are working in this fabulous job I don’t think any situation should be unsettling.”
Speculation over Alonso, Holden and Davies has increased over the last week after Freedman said that renewing contracts was not a matter of priority at present.
“We are not at 17th in the league, concentrating on individuals, I think we should be concentrating on what the club should be doing,” he added.
“As a club we are trying to go forward.”
It is understood that the club have not ruled out offering Davies and Holden new deals, although any offer would be in keeping with the current financial situation at the club.
In Holden’s case in particular, Freedman is keen for the American to concentrate only on making a full recovery from his long-term injury issues.
“I can't be too emotional because everyone is so emotional towards him,” he said. “He's a great fella and I wish him all the luck in the world.
“Yes he is out of contract in the summer but that’s the least of his concerns.
“He has gone through a career-threatening major knee operation so that’s far from his thinking, his contract situation. Just getting back playing football is a delight for him.
“I don’t think he needs that sort of pressure from me to sign, or not to sign, a contract. I think he needs all the support he can get to play football. Let’s strip it all down and remember the days when he used to play in the streets. That’s what he needs to remember.”

Bolton Wanderers reject Fiorentina bid for Marcos Alonso

The Marcos Alonso to Fiorentina rumor has just taken an interesting turn. In today's pre-match press conference, manager Dougie Freedman confirmed that not only had Bolton Wanderers received a bid for the young defender from Serie A side Fiorentina but the club had rejected it.
What makes this interesting is that Marcos Alonso is out of contract in the summer and should Bolton Wanderers not sell the player and should he not sign a new deal, the Trotters could easily lose him on a free transfer in just a few months.
According to a story in the Bolton News yesterday, Bolton Wanderers had apparently opened negotiations on a new deal for Alonso last year with the defender and his family but the pen had not been put to paper yet.
Per yesterday's report, Fiorentina want the defender not only for defensive competition but to potentially free up midfielder Cristian Llama for a sale to Palermo or Parma.
Personally, we hope that Alonso does stay with Bolton as not only would the fee from Fiorentina not come anywhere near covering the initial price that the Wanderers paid for him, but Alonso is finally starting to show his talent. He's shown his quality in the last few matches and with that quality came consistency that Bolton fans had long wanted from him.