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Despite leaving Liverpool FC several eons ago, Xabi Alonso has been continuously linked with a move back to Merseyside because nostalgia, sentimentality, and re-igniting old heartbreaks are a totally valid basis for any good transfer rumour.
Unsurprisingly, it wasn't to be. Alonso has signed a new deal with Bayern Munich, but the hirsute midfielder had kind words to say about Liverpool in the wake of his choice to move to the Bundesliga.
"I had five great years at Liverpool and I would rather just keep that memory as it is," Alonso said on why he didn't consider a move back to England. "The interest came in from Bayern in the last two weeks and it's the right decision.
"At the end of last season I knew that winning the Champions League would usher in a new era for [Real Madrid] and I need to start a new era too. I detected that this might be the moment when it was right to leave."
The Craig Bellamys of the world are few and far between, and while it's very possible Alsonso could have found the same success as the Welshman if he'd had a second go with the Reds, sometimes it's better for all parties to move on. Alonso will be reuinited in Bavaria with fellow ex-Liverpool man Pepe Reina, where the two of them can compare notes on how to leave a club gracefully.