JonjoShelvey says that his former Liverpool teammate Alberto Aquilani remains as one of the best he has ever seen on a technical level.
Aquilani came to the club for £ 20 million from Italian club Roma. Rafa Benitez saw him as the ideal replacement for Xabi Alonso, who was being linked with Real Madrid and Bayern Munich back then. Even though the Italian started out well, there were initial doubts about his fitness. Those concerns proved extremely right after Aquilani made only 18 appearances in his first season at the club.
This also proved to be his final full season at Liverpool, as Aquilani ended up being loaned out to clubs like Juventus. Now with Sporting CP, the player has been contemplating a return to Italian football. However, he definitely appears to have made a mark in his short time with the Merseyside outfit. Shelvey, who had just joined the club from Charlton Athletic, was training with the first-team when he got the chance to experience the brilliant side of Aquilani. Despite having played with some of the greatest players in the world like Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney – while with the national team, Shelvey says that none can beat the technical ability of the Italian.
He says that Aquilani was a truly gifted footballer. “This may surprise some people because I have chosen Aquilani. In my career I have never seen anyone who was better than him from a technical point of view,” said the former midfielder. Shelvey is also no longer at Liverpool as he currently plays for Newcastle United. He recently made the £ 12 million move from Swansea. Aquilani has scored four goals in 26 appearances for the Portuguese outfit. He has been able to get more first-team football since the move to Portugal in the summer.