Premiership New Boys: Alberto Aquilani

Beyond inflating the market with its exorbitant transfer fees, the more significant impact of Real Madrid’s “galactico” project is that they’ve often swooped in and tempted away another club’s star player before that club has come up with a suitable replacement or backup plan.  Liverpool, however, have been one of the few who were prepared.  A day after Xabi Alonso fled for Madrid, the Reds announced that they had signed Roma midfielder Alberto Aquilani.  Italians have been hit or miss in the Premiership, which is why the Anfield faithful are hoping this new addition will be more like Gianfranco Zola and less like Bernardo Corradi.

Club: Liverpool. (Signed from Roma for a reported £20 million.)

Age: 25

Upside: A lot of potential.  At 25, Aquilani is only just entering his prime.  The attacking midfielder brings a lot of weapons to Anfield – with his ability to score from long range, carve dangerous runs in the box, and keep the play moving forward.  If Aquilani manages to deflect some of the opposing team’s focus away from Steven Gerard and Fernando Torres, then you could argue he’s an upgrade over Alonso.

Downside: A lot of potential.  Fans in Rome and Italy have been eagerly waiting for Aquilani‘s breakout season, but he has yet to turn the occasional flashes of brilliance into sustained excellence.  The Anfield faithful might not be so patient.  Injury has cut into his playing time, but he still has managed to play in at least 20 games a year since 2004, only scoring at most six goals in one season.

Pedigree:  Young Alberto came through the youth ranks of Roma, preferring to stick with his home club even when teams like Arsenal and Chelsea made inquiries about the player.  It was a smart decision, as Aquilani was able to learn at the feet of Italian maestro Francesco Totti.  But not only has Aquilani played with the best, he’s also played against the best, as Roma have featured prominently in the Champions League over the past several seasons.

International Career: Aquilani boasts double-digit call-ups to the Azzurri, and is expected to feature significantly during their upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

Alberto Aquilani - To finally spread his wings at Anfield?

—

The other Premiership New Boys:

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake

.

Graham Alexander

.

Gabriel Obertan

.

Christian Benitez

.

—

We at Footy Factor would like to thank Jerry Russo from NYC for submitting this article.