Alberto Aquilani arrived at Liverpool to help fill the gap left by Xabi Alonso. By the time he made his first start, Liverpool were already out of the Champions League and their title challenge had unravelled.
Signed from Roma for around £17 million in August 2009, the Italian was recovering from ankle surgery. Supporters waited nearly three months for his debut and another six weeks for his first start.
There were eventually glimpses of why Rafa Benítez had wanted him: a goal against Portsmouth, three assists at Burnley and a fine finish in a European semi-final against Atlético Madrid.
But Aquilani played just 28 competitive games for Liverpool. What initially looked like a delayed introduction became a career at Anfield that never really got going.
Made in Rome
Born in Rome on 7 July 1984, Aquilani came through the ranks at Roma. Fabio Capello gave him his first-team debut in the Coppa Italia in December 2002, followed by his Serie A debut in May 2003.
A season on loan at Triestina in Serie B gave him regular football, bringing four goals in 41 appearances. Back at Roma, he established himself as a gifted midfielder with the passing ability and technique to attract attention beyond Italy.
He made his senior international debut against Turkey in November 2006 and was named in the team of the tournament at the 2007 European Under-21 Championship.
At Euro 2008, he started Italy’s quarter-final against Spain in the absence of the suspended Andrea Pirlo. Italy lost on penalties after a goalless draw.
By the following summer, Aquilani was preparing to leave his hometown club for Liverpool.
An injured arrival
Alonso’s departure for Real Madrid left Benítez with a considerable problem. Liverpool had finished second in 2008-09, and one of the players central to that challenge was gone.
Aquilani signed a five-year contract on 7 August 2009 and took the No. 4 shirt vacated by Sami Hyypiä.
He was a different sort of midfielder from Alonso, more inclined to combine with team-mates further up the pitch than dictate play from deep. Nevertheless, the timing of his arrival made comparisons inevitable.
The immediate concern was his fitness.
Aquilani had not played since Roma’s Champions League defeat by Arsenal on 11 March and had undergone ankle surgery in May. Liverpool expected him to be fully fit within four to eight weeks of signing.
His competitive debut eventually came on 28 October, as a late substitute in a 2-1 League Cup defeat at Arsenal.
His first start followed on 9 December against Fiorentina at Anfield. Liverpool lost 2-1, bringing an already unsuccessful Champions League campaign to an end.
It was hardly an ideal setting in which to find his feet.
Signs of promise
By spring, there were more encouraging performances.
On 15 March 2010, Aquilani scored his first Liverpool goal in a 4-1 victory over Portsmouth at Anfield. His movement and passing contributed to a much-improved attacking display, offering encouragement after months of waiting.
Six weeks later, he supplied three assists in a 4-0 win at Burnley, including the pass for Maxi Rodríguez’s first Liverpool goal.
With Aquilani operating behind the striker and Steven Gerrard playing deeper, Liverpool found a productive combination. It offered a possible way of using the Italian’s strengths without asking him to reproduce Alonso’s game.
Four days later, Aquilani scored his most important Liverpool goal.
Trailing Atlético Madrid 1-0 from the first leg of their Europa League semi-final, Liverpool levelled the tie when he swept a first-time finish into the corner just before half-time at Anfield.
Yossi Benayoun put Liverpool ahead in extra time, only for Diego Forlán to score the away goal that sent Atlético through.
Aquilani finished the season with two goals in 26 appearances, including 18 in the Premier League. After such a disrupted start, there was at least something to build on.
Two loans and a departure
Instead, the manager who had signed him left that summer.
Roy Hodgson gave Aquilani two appearances in Europa League qualifying before allowing him to join Juventus on a season-long loan in August 2010.
Juventus did not take up their option to buy him, and he returned to Liverpool the following summer, by which time Kenny Dalglish was in charge.
Despite some encouraging pre-season performances, another loan followed, this time to AC Milan.
Liverpool’s director of football, Damien Comolli, praised Aquilani’s conduct during the negotiations, saying he had prioritised playing football “at personal cost to himself”.
His timing in Italy was unfortunate. Milan won the league during his season at Juventus; Juventus won it during his season at Milan.
Neither loan became a permanent transfer. On 3 August 2012, Liverpool sold him to Fiorentina.
His final competitive appearance for the Reds had come almost two years earlier.
A fresh start in Florence
Fiorentina gave Aquilani the sustained run that had eluded him at Liverpool.
He scored seven league goals in his first season as they finished fourth. In January 2014, he struck a hat-trick in a 3-3 draw with Genoa.
During his three seasons in Florence, Fiorentina reached the Coppa Italia final and the Europa League semi-finals. Aquilani also made Italy’s squad for the 2014 World Cup, although he did not play in the tournament.
Spells at Sporting Lisbon, Pescara, Sassuolo and Las Palmas followed. He announced his retirement in June 2019, having won 38 Italy caps and scored five international goals.
From midfield to management
Aquilani began coaching with Fiorentina’s Under-18s in 2019 before joining the first-team coaching staff.
He took charge of their Primavera side in 2020 and enjoyed considerable success, winning three consecutive youth Coppa Italia titles and two youth Super Cups.
His first senior managerial job came at Pisa in 2023. After one season there and a year away, he took over at Catanzaro in June 2025.
He led them to fifth in Serie B and the promotion play-off final. The two-legged final against Monza finished level on aggregate, but Monza went up because of their higher league position.
In June 2026, Sassuolo appointed Aquilani as head coach, giving him his first managerial opportunity in Serie A and a return to a club he had represented as a player.
Once a Red
Aquilani’s Liverpool record makes for disappointing reading given the fee and the expectations: 28 appearances, two goals and two seasons spent elsewhere on loan.
But his story deserves more than a dismissal as an expensive mistake.
He arrived needing rehabilitation when Liverpool needed an immediate contribution. By the time he was showing signs of settling, a difficult season was nearing its end and Benítez was about to leave.
The performances against Portsmouth, Burnley and Atlético showed he had something to offer. Liverpool never saw enough of them.
