VIOLA COULDN’T AFFORD AQUILANI

Fiorentina have revealed that the demands of the former Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani in terms of wages almost made the deal impossible. Fiorentina recently completed the signing of the Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani for an undisclosed fee.

The former Roma midfielder had fallen out of favour under all the previous managers at the club. He was signed by the former Liverpool manager Benitez many seasons ago, but injury problems and poor form have restricted him to starting only a handful of matches in these four seasons. Alberto Aquilani brought an end to the disappointing spell at Anfield in the summer by completing a permanent move to Italy.

He has signed a long-term deal with the Italian club Fiorentina, who are looking to get back into the glory days after struggling for the last couple of seasons. It was not long ago that the club were playing in the Champions League, but they now find themselves without the additional revenue from the competition. This coupled with the excessive wage demands of the player almost put the deal off according to the sporting director of the club. However, they were able to come to an agreement with the player after a few rounds of discussion.

“The most difficult operation? The one with Liverpool for Aquilani, who had a salary impractical for Fiorentina and perhaps also for all Italian clubs. We resolved it along with Liverpool, our good relations paid off. It was great taking back Aquilani to Fiorentina. Alberto in Florence will again be a top player,” said the sporting director of the club, Daniele Prade. So far, the arrival of Alberto Aquilani has worked wonders for the club after he has helped the club win two of the three matches in the new season. This has put Fiorentina in the sixth position in the table.

AQUILANI WANTS A CHANCE

Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani has said that he wants to prove his worth and establish himself as a first team regular at his parent club Liverpool. The former Roma midfielder has been at two different clubs on loan deals in the last two seasons. After having tried on a number of times to make his move permanent at both Juventus and AC Milan, the 27-year-old has decided to stay at Merseyside. Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers said a few days ago that he is prepared to offer the loan players a chance to prove themselves at the club.

It was initially reported that he would be interested in selling Alberto Aquilani in order to raise funds for the new arrivals. However, the Italian midfielder has said that he would like to stay with the English club have proved that his transfer fee of £ 20 million paid by the club to Roma in 2008 is fully worth it. Aquilani arrived at the club during the era of Rafael Benitez and was injured the first time he arrived at the club. Due to the fact that Liverpool’s midfield appeared very static under Kenny Dalglish, Brandon Rogers is prepared to introduce some life into the club through the form of Aquilani.

“How can you pay £20m for a player and this player is never taken into consideration?. I never asked to leave but I was always pushed by the club. I am here and I would like to play for Liverpool but it doesn’t depend only on me. I had a very good talk with Brendan where we were able to share our thoughts and it was a very positive chat. I like his footballing philosophy and I like the mentality he has because it matches my own skills,” said Aquilani ahead of the pre-season tour.