Rafa made his intentions clear for everyone. he needs to move quickly for his targets for many reasons. the main reasons are to make sure he could 'get' his targets, to get these targets at a reasonable price, and to have enough time with his new players in pre-season.
Rafa wants to keep his best players, starting with Alonso. but if we get a ridicules offer then we might consider it, Alonso's price is as high as it ever could get, which might tempt Rafa to sell IF he could get a replacement. and i mean a "tactical" replacement. which means a player who could replace the player but not doing the exact same job. so a box to box midfielder might "tactically" replace a deep-lying playmaker.
Rafa's main target now is a worldclass attacking midfielder. that could be his most expensive target, therefore he will try to sign him the way he did when he signed Torres. that would cost around 25m.
then he will try to get the most out of his "unwanted" players. Voronin, Dossena, Babel, and possibly Lucas and Cavalieri will be shown the door. that could bring in around 20m.
after that he will try to buy more players who might not be as spectacular, but will be quite useful along the way. the sorts of 'Benayoun' signings, not so expensive but adds a new dimension to our team. an attacking right back is the most needed player.
IF and only IF Rafa decides to sell Alonso, then our transfer budget will get a significant boost. but it's better to use it wisely OR let's just keep him.
