Juventus published this statement after the loan capture of Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani:
“Agreement has been reached for the loan of Aquilani with the option to buy him at the end of the season for 16m euros (£13m).”
The additional statement of the option to buy came as a bit of a surprise to me yesterday as I had assumed that the loan would be just that, a loan. The statements from Roy Hodgson over Aqua’s proposed move to Juve suggested that this would be the case:
“For Aquilani, this year it is very important that he plays regular football every week as the number one man on the team sheet. I can’t promise him that here so if a loan move to Italy could help him in that respect it might be good for all parties. It would certainly be what he needs, it would certainly protect the value of the player and when he does return to Liverpool no doubt we will see the Aquilani that we signed before he came here injured last year.”
At the end of all of this then, it can be assumed, if he is successful during his loan spell, Reds fans have seen the last of Alberto Aquilani in a Liverpool shirt. It is a shame really for I feel that he could have been a good player for us. In the last few matches of last season he seemed to be improving a great deal. Playing in a more advanced position off the striker rather than in the centre of midfield, he had more space and time on the ball to distribute passes and have shots at goal. His goal against Atletico Madrid in the semi-final of the Europa League last season could have proven to be an important moment, in both the club’s season and in his own career at Anfield. It could have been the making of him as a Liverpool player, but like in the match itself, it proved to be a false dawn.
He arrived at Anfield last summer with the odds stacked against him. Firstly he was replacing a much loved player in Xabi Alonso who probably had his best campaign in a Liverpool shirt the season previous, and he also had to contend with settling into a new country and a new league while recovering from a serious ankle injury. He was much admired back when he was a Roma player. Team-mate Daniele De Rossi said of his impending departure:
“If it’s as it’s written in the papers, we will lose a great player. His many injuries have maybe meant that he’s been forgotten about a bit, but I am sure that if he leaves we will regret it. He’s a footballer with exceptional skill.”
His injury would take longer to recover from than expected and in the press he was never given a chance, denounced as a flop before his Reds career had truly even begun. It takes some players a long time to adapt to a new league, especially the Premier League, and with Aqua’s added injury problems, it would be fair to say that his first season at Liverpool could be written off before it had even begun; classed as a settling in period.
So did Roy actually give the player a chance? It is hard one to judge. After 35 years in management, Roy is no mug; he knows whether a player is capable of performing at the highest level. He may have felt that both Aqua’s style of play and physical attributes did not fit the Premier League. He spent a fair few weeks training with the player before making his judgement as well so it is not as though it was a snap decision based on his performances last season. In some senses though, he did need more time. He had his first full pre-season fully fit at the club and was clearly determined to prove himself in the Premier League. Even when speculation was rife over a move back to Italy, his agent, the type of people who normally revel in linking their players with other clubs, insisted that his player wanted to stay.
What most probably happened, that after the arrival of Joe Cole, Roy felt Aquilani could not be subjected to another year on the bench. Cole has proven he can perform in the Premier League while Aqua was an unknown quantity, making Hodgson’s decision easier to make. Alas his move to Liverpool was not meant to be. Good luck to you Alberto and have a good career.
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as I said before, probably the worst transfer EVER!!
If he’s successful, then they buy him from us for a bragain fee. If he’s crap, then they dump him back on us after a year and we’re back to square one. Win-win for Juve, Lose-lose for us!!
I don’t know what the hell Hodgson is thinking on this one. Even if he thinks that Cole, Pacheco and Shelevey are all superior players right now, he should’ve just sold the guy now so that we’d have the money to reinvest on the team! Loaning him makes no sense for us at all
What I find quite sad is that, if any rumours are to be believed, any sale of Rafa’s players will be at a loss. Mascherano paid 20m, Barcelona rate him at 12m (ridiculous), Kuyt paid 12m, Inter offer something like 9m, Aquilani paid 17m, selling clause for 13m. No wonder we can only afford free transfers. Very poor business.
I’m hoping that we would still have the option to bring him back at the end of the loan if we didn’t want to sell at that point, but most probably not. Seems we like thowing away millions lately (Keane) when we need it most!
At the risk of repeating David and others, it seems that Roy is more interested in using players like Gerrard, Cole and Pacheco in the position that Aquilani would have occupied.
In view of the above, I understand the loan but would have refrained from providing Juventus with the automatic buy option (perhaps a first option to buy could have been negotiated instead). I fear that we will come to regret this, in the same way AC Milan are surely regretting the loss of Yoann Gourcouff.
At least Aquilani is not as young as Gourcouff was when he was let go…
People seem to be forgetting that we’ll be getting a couple of million for the loan, loan’s aren’t free, when it comes to established players there’s always a big fee involved.
With players wanting to leave at present it may have been an idea to keep 1 that was happy to stay.
If these new owners dont come in soon and do something big in January i fear more top players departing.
Yes very poor business, but that’s the result of overpaying for only decent players, and guess what we have one person to thank for losing all those money and that’s the beloved Rafa, he’s a god damn joke if you ask me!
this loan deal for aquilani doesn’t make sense as we’ve lost a creative midfielder for one season FOR NOTHING. why not keep, would be a useful player but if he doesn’t do well then sell him next season but loaning him out means we’ve lost a player and no money comes in.
This is a crazy piece of business! As Jay said, whether he shines or flops, either way we still end up with the short end of the stick. I mean, who negotiated this? You’d think it must be the same people who brought in Hicks and Gillett!
Aquilani’s wages are 3.4m euros a season. Thats why loaning him out makes some sense. Its a hedge basically to minimise the loss made on him. If he’s good we lose the player for around 19.4m euros when saved wages are included, which is a respectable fee, and if he flops in europe, we get him back but still lose 3.4m less than otherwise.
The two signings that broke us from rafa were Aquilani and Keane, 40m pounds in wasted players…shame
Best piece of news from Anfield in a long while! One flop down with more to go.
He’s made of biscuits. We should never have signed a ‘luxury player’ when we needed a strong first XI.
Jay Wright…you are an idiot, and have no idea what you’re talking about. Worst transfer ever, yeah right.
So in his last nine games when he was finally fit and showing form, 1 goal and 7 assists in those nine games..yeah rubbish..
You sir are a plank.
Liverpool always pay over the odds for players, especially with that Whopper Benitez.
Liverpool always sell players under the odds, lets face it, the club is run by morons, we deserve all we get.