Liverpool Transfer News: The Curious Case of Alberto Aquilani

Aquaman back at Anfield?

Well he may not be the founding member of the Justice League, but he surely has a knack of creating news all around. He is Benitez’s Babe Alberto Aquilani, the ‘Aquaman’. After a zillion unsuccessful attempts to offload the Italian playmaker for a sum as low as £6m, Liverpool are poised to welcome Aquilani at Anfield for the next season.

Alberto Aquilani was signed by Rafael Benitez for a whopping sum of £18m from Italian giants AS Roma for his playmaking and passing skills. What Liverpool received was an injured horse with no wish left whatsoever for returning to the battlefield. The rare appearances he made for the Reds reaffirmed their plans of offloading him at the next station. With the arrival of Roy Hodgson, the playmaker was allowed to ply his trade for Old Turin Lady for a season-long loan with an option to buy him for £14m.

Aquaman had a successful last season at Juventus and made his intentions clear to remain in Serie A. But after a string of positive performances, the Italian’s influence died down and so did the interest of Juventus in buying him. With Juventus not willing to pay Liverpool’s valuation of the player and AC Milan’s interest subsided, the player and the club are stuck with each-other for another season.

But with a disastrous and injury-plagued debut season for the Reds and the public display of non-allegiance shown by the Italian, his chances for securing a spot in Dalglish’s XI are as miniscule as a microbe. Thus, Dalglish and Co. would have rather sold Aquilani in exchange for much-needed cash to fund transfers. With Uefa’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules at the forefront of the club’s consciousness, Dalglish and director of football Damien Comolli must also maintain control of the club’s wage bill – and Aquilani’s salary in excess of £80,000-a-week makes him one of the highest paid players on Merseyside.

An Anfield source confirmed the widely-speculated theory.

“Aquilani is a talented player but as far as we are concerned he does not fit into the project at the club.

“It’s going to be a busy transfer window, with at least four or five players coming in, and issues concerning transfer budget, squad size and wages all come into it – especially with FFP about to come into play.”

With the signing of Jordan Henderson, there’s no breathing space in Liverpool’s midfield and an unwelcomed Aquilani will surely need a magic wand to play next season. Though he can complain of being unfortunate with injuries in his debut season, his inability to adapt to the rigours of English football may restrict his appearances next season.

What will be Aquaman’s course of action now??

Stay tuned. More to follow….