Alberto Aquilani

Alberto Aquilani (born 7 July 1984) is an Italian footballer who plays for Premier League club Liverpool and the Italian national team. He is a central midfielder, who can operate in a holding position.

Aquilani began his career at Roma and, after a brief loan spell at Triestina, returned to the Serie A club where he became a regular in the Roma side during the 2005–06 season. Unfortunately in the following season, he suffered a thigh injury and was ruled out for several months. He moved to Liverpool for the start of the 2009–10 season, in a deal which initially cost Liverpool £5million, but the fee has now risen to a reported £20million.

Italian Aquilani has made his name as a creative midfielder, but had provided just 2 assists in his entire professional career until his close pass enabled Dirk Kuyt to score the opener in a 2-0 defeat of Tottenham Hotspur in a Premier League match at Anfield on 20 January 2010.

Internationally, Aquilani has represented Italy at international level youth level and at the Euro 2008. He made his full international debut in November 2006 in a 1–1 draw against Turkey.

On 5 August 2009, Liverpool announced that they had agreed a deal with AS Roma for the transfer of Aquilani, subject to a medical. The club subsequently announced that the player had passed the medical and signed a 5 year contract on 7 August 2009. Roma revealed that the fee was 20 million euro (£17 Million) plus sporting bonus. Aquilani was handed the number 4 shirt, last worn by Sami Hyypiä who joined Bayer Leverkusen at the end of the 2008-09 season. Although it was initially thought that he was recruited as a replacement for holding midfielder Xabi Alonso, it has since been proved that Aquilani prefers to play further up the pitch and is considered to be more of a dynamic attacking midfielder than a holding playmaker.

Aquilani made his Liverpool reserves debut with a 15 minutes substitute appearance in a 2-0 win against Sunderland reserves on 21 October 2009.

Aquilani's first game for Liverpool was a 2-1 4th round Carling Cup defeat to Arsenal, coming on in the 77th minute for Damien Plessis. He made his long awaited Premier league debut on 9 November 2009, as a late substitute against Birmingham City in a 2-2 draw.^[18] He then made a 30 second appearance against Hungarian club Debrecen on 24 November which Liverpool won 1-0 courtesy of a goal from David Ngog. Aquilani made his first start against Fiorentina at Anfield in a UEFA Champions League match on 9 December 2009 where Liverpool lost 2-1. Aquilani made his first Premier League start against Wolverhampton Wanderers on 26 December 2009 and received a standing ovation from the Kop when he was substituted in the 84th minute for Daniel Pacheco. Even though he has received much support from the LFC fans, Aquilani's impact on the team has been significantly limited due to his injury. Aquilani started a league game against Tottenham Hotspur on 20 January in which he assisted Dirk Kuyt for the opening goal. He received great reception from the Liverpool fans when he was substituted for David Ngog in the 79th minute of the match. The league game against Bolton Wanderers saw Aquilani start and also gain his second assist in a Liverpool shirt, when he headed the ball for Dirk Kuyt to score the opener.

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