Unlucky Liverpool Midfielder Set to Return Home
Italian club Fiorentina have confirmed Liverpool's Alberto Aquilani has completed a medical at the Serie A club and while there are no official statements on the club's Web site beyond the above, other reports quote Andrea Della Valle, the president, as confirming the transfer.
"We have bought Aquilani," Della Valle is reported as saying by Goal.com. There is no indication, as yet, of the fee to be paid to Liverpool.
Aquilani has been the subject of much interest since Brendan Rodgers took over management at Anfield, with rumours suggesting his injury-plagued time in the Premier League was enough to convince the Northern Irishman to offload him. The 28 year old Italian, who joined the Reds from Roma in 2009 for a fee believed to be in the region of £20m, then spent two seasons on loan back in Italy - one with Juventus and the other with AC Milan - and singularly failed to impress in the few games he did play in England. The midfielder was included in Liverpool's pre-season squad to the US but flew back early in order to complete the move to Italy.
Incidentally, Aquilani recently admitted he had the opportunity to return to his old club Roma, after his 2010/11 season loan to Juventus, and would have been prepared even to accept a wage cut.
"I had the opportunity to go back to Roma last year, and would even have been prepared to take a pay cut to represent my old club's colours again.[New coach] Zdenek Zeman is the right choice for the club, although I thought Luis Enrique did a good job too," the Italian international was quoted as saying before the two sides met in a friendly in the US; the Italians won 2-1.
The midfielder's exit could be offset by the expected arrival of Swansea's Joe Allen, who has agreed personal terms with the Merseyside club, leaving only the management of the two outfits to agree a transfer fee. A report by the Evening Post indicated the Reds made a £12.5m offer with an option to take a Liverpool player on loan.
Meanwhile, Aquilani's arrival in Fiorentina has been hailed by Italian midfielder Francesco Della Rocca, who signed for the club earlier in the week.
"Alberto is a great player and will do very well with Fiorentina," he said, "He wants to redeem himself after having a less than positive experience with Liverpool. I am convinced that the move to Florence represents a great opportunity to do that."
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