Stories about Fernando Alonso joining Ferrari have been in the press for years but rumours of the move intensified last week after a report from Spain suggested the deal is soon to be announced. The Diario AS newspaper claims that Alonso will be driving for the Scuderia in 2010 and that Ferrari will confirm the news at Monza in September.

Whilst no-one will comment officially on the story there are a lot of reasons why an Alonso-Ferrari arrangement is almost certainly on the cards.

The former world champion has been linked to Maranello for much of his career and first looked set to join the Italian team eight years ago.

Fernando had an agreement with Ferrari to become their test driver in 2001 but infuriated Jean Todt by pulling out at the last minute and opting to sign a contract with Flavio Briatore instead. It was a very gutsy decision for the 19 year old to refuse the lure of Ferrari, although it probably worked out in his favour. He was able to learn and develop as a driver at Minardi and Renault without being caught in the shadow of Michael Schumacher.

The timing may not have been right for Alonso in 2001 but it certainly is now. A lot has changed in Formula One over the past two years and Ferrari is now a real possibility for the Spaniard.

Firstly, Alonso’s brief stint at McLaren was a total disaster and lasted less than twelve months. That put Fernando’s future back on the negotiating table and his services have been much sought after. Ferrari has been the favourite to secure Alonso’s signature since his falling out with Ron Dennis because the Scuderia is the only team you’d consider to be a better long term option than McLaren.

In addition to Alonso’s troubles throughout 2007, Kimi Raikkonen started going off the boil at Ferrari. Last year Kimi’s form was indifferent at best and he was resoundly beaten by Felipe Massa (whose salary is considerably lower). Raikkonen has failed to improve in 2009 and whilst much of that is down to the lemon at his disposal, he has not re-established himself as one of the best drivers in F1.

On his day Kimi can beat anybody on the grid but now those days are now few and far between. Ferrari’s faith in the Finn is lagging.

Kimi also seems rather disinterested. He has achieved his career goal of winning the World Championship and now has all the money he will ever need, so perhaps Formula One just isn’t a priority for him anymore. Raikkonen might be as happy to leave the sport as Ferrari is to see him go.

Alonso would fit quite nicely into the superstar shaped hole that Raikkonen leaves behind.

In fact, there have been a number of clues that indicate a deal between Alonso and Ferrari has already been made.

One of the biggest hints is that Santander will join Ferrari as a major sponsor in 2010. They are a large Spanish bank and have been in the sport with McLaren since 2007. Alonso played a big part in their decision to enter F1 and might now have had a similar influence on their move to Ferrari. After all, Fernando still has personal sponsorship with them. It is quite possible that Santander’s arrangement with Ferrari was done on the back of an Alonso contract.

Some rumours also suggest that Santander have agreed to pay out Kimi Raikkonen’s contract to make way for Fernando.

Even though that is probably not true, there is now an obvious commercial link between Fernando Alonso and Ferrari.

There is already an emotional one.

Alonso has a real passion for the Ferrari name and its history, and is happy to speak openly about it. He said at this year’s Turkish Grand Prix “When we become professional drivers, we all want to have one of those cars. Why is it a dream of the drivers? I don’t know. It is a strange thing. When you’re a child you always play with the red cars. It is a colour, a machine, a brand that means racing, means Formula One, means competition.”

That’s quiet poetic for a man who denies having made any concrete plans for his future.

Another interesting point emerged this week when it was announced that Ferrari will be holding their traditional end of season World Finals event at Valencia in November. Whilst they are likely doing this to appease Santander as a new sponsor, they are certainly going a long way to reinforce the Spanish connection.

All of the Alonso-Ferrari rumours have been underlined by reports in La Gazetta dello Sport. The Italian magazine’s lead journalist is supposedly an expert on the inner workings of Ferrari, and claims a deal was done partway through 2008. Many in the industry regard his word as fact given his close sources that have been reliable in the past.

La Gazetto dello Sport is the same magazine that recently stated Alonso has relocated into the Swiss town of Lugano, just 200 miles away from Maranello.

A move to Ferrari seems almost inevitable.

Alonso will be leaving Renault in the near future regardless of the history he has with the team. The French company has a wavering commitment to Formula One, no main sponsor for next year, and lacks the resources of the leading outfits. Even though Renault will be helped by the forthcoming cost reductions they are no longer one of the sport’s main contenders. Alonso has wanted out since 2006 and only went back to the team as a last resort temporary measure.

Alonso originally left Renault three years ago for a number of reasons. He had won two world titles and wanted a new challenge. He wanted to join a team that had the resources to match his talent, and he wanted to create a legacy with a single team in the same way that many great drivers have done in the past. McLaren offered him the opportunity to do all of that, and now Ferrari is doing the same.

However, a move to Ferrari is unlikely to go sour.

McLaren’s driver mismanagement ruined Alonso’s time at Woking because he felt the team favoured Lewis Hamilton. Whilst there was no technical bias in the team whatsoever, there was an emotional bias, and Alonso took that the wrong way. It played on his paranoia of being outshone in the same car, something which he could not fathom, and it built up inside him until his relationship with the team became destructive.

Whilst Alonso engineered his own downfall, McLaren helped with their torrid history of driver management. Almost all of their stars have left the team unhappy since they do not make concessions for any driver.

On the other side, the new post-Schumacher Ferrari appears to be completely different. Stefano Domenicali has bent over backwards to accommodate the wayward Raikkonen, and will likely do just as much to make Alonso feel at home as well. Fernando does not need to fear the same sort of ‘injustices’ that he believes spoiled his relationship with Ron Dennis.

With both Alonso and Ferrari standing to gain from a partnership, it really does seem like a perfect match waiting to happen.

If it doesn’t come to fruition next year, 2011 is looking very good indeed.

Ferrari looks set to confirm so at Monza.