Aquilani still must pass strict Liverpool medical
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Liverpool have confirmed they have reached agreement with Roma to sign midfielder Alberto Aquilani for a fee believed to be £20m.
Tiziana Fabi /GettyImages
Alberto Aquilani: Liverpool-bound.
The signing comes just hours after Xabi Alonso passed his medical at Real Madrid and completed a £30m move to the Bernabeu after five years at Anfield.
It has become clear that the two deals were being negotiated in tandem.
Once Liverpool had completed the Alonso transfer, and received the first cash instalment, they were been able to complete the deal for a player to replace the Spaniard in boss Rafael Benitez's squad.
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official on the liverpoolfc.tv site already
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i hope he does well. Good luck to alonso too.
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Aquilani is quite injury prone though.
Some stuff i read from liverpoolecho.co.uk
Quote Mycroft05:
04.10.2007 - 01.01.2008 (Calf)
24.10.2008 - 21.11.2008 (Thigh)
28.11.2008 - 02.01.2009 (Thigh)
13.02.2009 - 10.03.2009 (Ankle)
12.03.2009 - Present (Ankle)
This fella Seems way too injury prone to consider!!
Last season he started 7 league matches, the year before, 11, then it's 9, then 20, then 14. He'd get far more injuries in the English Premier League too!! -
I think for an Italian player, he is overpriced... In Italy, they are already calling him 'The New Dossena'...
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Goal.com Italy Slams Liverpool Target Aquilani As 'The New Dossena'
The speculated transfer of Aquilani to Liverpool would not be a good move for the Reds, opines Sergio Stanco from Goal.com Italy.
Aquilani: Does he have the personality to conquest the Premier League? Or is he "The new Dossena"
Xabi Alonso's move to Real Madrid could pave the way for AS Roma midfielder Alberto Aquilani to join Rafael Benitez's Liverpool ranks, but Goal.com Italy's Sergio Stanco has warned Anfield fans that they could be chasing "another Andrea Dossena".
Stanco has reservations about the Liverpool target, as he feels that it is high time that the 25-year-old has converted his much-publicised potential into top-level performances.
He told Goal.com International, "In Italy, we said that Aquilani has a great potential and each year should be the one where he explodes, but we are still waiting."
He was swift to add, though, that, "No one is so stupid to say that he can not become a great player, but at the moment he still is not."
Stanco also pointed to the differences in England and Italy about fielding young players. A case in point is the way players such as Wayne Rooney and now more recently Jack Wilshere are brought through into the first-team at 16 or 17-years-of-age, while in Serie A, players such as Sebastian Giovinco and Riccardo Montolivo are still considered young.
The reason for this, Stanco suggests, is to alleviate the risk of "burn-out", so while there is still time for Aquilani to raise his game further, which Stanco hopes as "everybody knows how Italy needs a good midfielder", but the onus has instead turned to the nation's younger crop.
Goal.com Italy had further criticisms about an Aquilani switch. "He does not have the personality to conquest the Premier League. I think he will be a new Dossena who wants to come back to Italy after one year because he doesn't enough." -
Rafa - Aquilani to excite fans
"Roma have allowed us to talk with him, so that's good and positive. He is a player with the quality we are looking for," the Liverpool boss told the club's official website.
"He can play a little bit higher than Javier Mascherano
- maybe between him and Steven Gerrard. "He has good passing - the final ball is good - and he also works. If he can settle down properly in England he can be a very good addition.
"I think the signing should excite the fans. He won the U19 European Championship with his country, and U21 too. He has some trophies - including the Italian Cup.
"I always remember one game - England versus Italy U21s at Wembley, and he was man of the match in a 3-0 win."
skysports.
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Originally posted by zocoss:
I think for an Italian player, he is overpriced... In Italy, they are already calling him 'The New Dossena'...
England got 50% tax...have to look at the salary instead of the transfer fee...I think he had contract with Roma til 2012... -
Lol cfm liao arh?
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Aquilani still must pass strict Liverpool medical
Alberto Aquilani's move from Roma to Liverpool is yet to be signed off.
The Times says life is rarely without its complications at Anfield and any deal for Aquilani will hinge on the player passing a stringent medical in the next 48 hours amid concerns about the Italian’s troublesome injury record.
The Italy midfield player will move from Roma for €20 million (about £17 million), rising to €23 million.
Aquilani is recovering from surgery he had on his right ankle in May and his tenure at Roma has been blighted by injury problems. He has played only 73 games in three seasons for Roma and his last appearance came as a substitute on March 11, against Arsenal in the Champions League.
Roma legend Giannini: Aquilani will be great for Liverpool
Roma legend Giuseppe Giannini reckons Alberto Aquilani will be the ideal man to help Liverpool improve on last term's second place - and finally break their Premier League title duck.
Giannini, who was similar in style to the new Red, said: "He won't have any problems adapting to the Premier League.
"I have no doubts that Liverpool have signed a great player."
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liverpool players most name so long 1 =.=
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Rafa's Italian gamble: Aquilani joins Liverpool with a health warning
High flier: But Aquilani also has a history of injuries and could be a big gamble for Rafa Benitez
Alberto Aquilani flies into England with a series of medical woes but a playing reputation more in keeping with Steven Gerrard than Xabi Alonso.
Crowd favourite Alonso’s belated £30million departure to Real Madrid proved the catalyst for Aquilani’s £20m acquisition, but the Roma midfielder hardly counts as a like-for-like replacement at Liverpool.
There is also a risk element to Rafa Benitez’s latest transfer, given a worrying list of injuries culminating in surgery on Aquilani’s ankle in May.
However, Aquilani is renowned for bearing down on goal, beams with pride at his years in the No 8 shirt for his boyhood idols and is coolness itself from the penalty spot.
Sound familiar? He will have to look for a new squad number, should he be given a clean bill of health after exhaustive tests at Melwood this afternoon, and spot-kicks will no longer boost his goals output, seeing as Gerrard has first say on both.
But the 25-year-old will otherwise be encouraged to replicate the way he could become a major influence on Roma’s team in a move that should signal an even more attacking approach from Liverpool in the coming season.
Aquilani only signed a new four-year deal with Roma worth £70,000 a week in May, following interest from Arsenal a few months earlier, but he has been enticed away by a five-year deal that will increase his weekly wage to £85,000.
His eye for goal suggests he will link up with Gerrard just behind Fernando Torres, in a departure from last season’s favoured system of using Alonso and Javier Mascherano as midfield anchor men.