On August 3, it was finally confirmed that Alberto
Aquilani had left Liverpool to join Fiorentina in a permanent deal. This
follows two years straight of constant speculation about where the Italian international’s
future belongs.
Aquilani was brought in from hometown club Roma by Rafael
Benitez in the summer of 2009 to replace outgoing talisman Xabi Alonso, who had
just finalized a £30mil move to Real Madrid. Liverpool only paid 5mil Euro’s up
front for Aquilani, with the following 15mil Euro’s all being paid within the next
two years in installments.
Despite being highly rated, Aquilani arrived on
Merseyside carrying an injury and did not make his debut for Liverpool until
October 28, 2009 with a substitute appearance against Arsenal in a 2-1 Carling
Cup loss at the Emirates.
He went on to make 26 appearances in all competitions for
Liverpool in the 2009/2010 season, scoring two goals in the process. His
link-up play was excellent once he re-gained his fitness and many fans believed
he would go on to form a formidable midfield alongside Javier Mascherano and
Steven Gerrard.
Unfortunately for Aquilani, in the summer of 2010 Benitez
was sacked. His replacement, Roy Hodgson, decided that the likes of Christian
Poulsen were a better option in midfield than the skillful Italian and Aquilani
went off on loan to Juventus for the entirety of the 2010/2011 season. He made
34 appearances for the Turin club and scored two goals, but they passed up the
opportunity to sign him permanently.
So he returned to Liverpool in the summer of 2011, now
with Kenny Dalglish at the helm. He played a key role in the pre-season tour of
Asia, and many believed that the 2011/2012 season would finally be the one
where Aquilani consolidated his spot in the Liverpool side. However, Dalglish signed
central midfielders Charlie Adam and Jordan Henderson, making the likelihood of
Aquilani staying at Anfield extremely slim.
Sure enough, he went out on loan again, this time to
Italian giants AC Milan. He made 25 appearances for the Milan club and scored
one goal over the course of the season. Again, AC Milan decided against signing
Aquilani permanently, and the jet-setting Italian joined up with yet again
another new boss at Liverpool in Brendan Rodgers for pre-season at the beginning
of July 2012.
Yet again, Aquilani featured prominently in Liverpool’s
pre-season tour of America, starting the first two friendlies against Toronto
and his former club Roma. However, he did not feature in the final game of the
tour against Tottenham, sparking more speculation regarding his future.
He was given permission from Liverpool to fly straight to
Italy from the US to sort out personal terms on a transfer to Fiorentina. Within
days the transfer was confirmed, and there were various rumors regarding
transfer fee and wage compensations, although nothing could be confirmed.
One thing is certain, Liverpool fans will never have
to wonder if Aquilani has a future at the club anymore. While many believe he
could well have been a great success with Liverpool, particularly under Rodgers
with his passing quality, others still think he is too lightweight for the
Premier League and has been homesick ever since leaving Italy back in 2009.
It has been one of the most protracted transfers in the
history of the club, lasting two years. Liverpool can now put this saga behind
them and focus on bringing in new players who want to be at the club and are
more suited to what the manager wants.
Had Benitez remained in charge there is no saying what
may have happened to Aquilani, as he was definitely a part of his plans. Three
different managers in the space of two years was essentially a death sentence
for Aquilani as each and every boss had different ideas of how he wanted his
team to play, and for whatever reason none of them seemed to think Aquilani
belonged at the club.
Clearly something was not right when he got overlooked on
so many occasions by managers at the club, while both Juventus and AC Milan
also decided against signing him. Whether it was homesickness from Roma, a lack
of physicality, or simply a poor mentality, for some reason five different
managers in the last two seasons have looked elsewhere for midfield options.
Maybe it is for the best that Aquilani has finally cut
his ties with the club, and everyone involved with the club can finally move on
and look for a proper replacement for him in the squad.
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