Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri has revealed he pulled out of a move for Xabi Alonso this summer because he felt the Liverpool midfielder was "too slow".

Juve held talks with Liverpool over the Spain international - a winner of Euro 2008 - but Alonso ultimately remained at Anfield.

"He was a player we wanted," Ranieri said of Alonso.

"But he is a player, who even though he is an extraordinary man and a great professional, left me perplexed by the slowness of his movement in midfield.

"In the midfield of Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool, where all of them are little soldiers, he finds himself in a fantastic position. But in our midfield, he would have found it hard to support the midfield line seeing as (Juve wingers) Mauro Camoranesi and Pavel Nedved arc not players that come back to give support like Liverpool’s wingers."