Rafael Benítez instantly filled the hole left by Xabi Alonso at Liverpool yesterday when he agreed a £20m fee with Roma for their midfield playmaker Alberto Aquilani.
As soon as Alonso signed a four‑year contract worth £3.8m a year after tax with Real Madrid then Liverpool announced they had struck a deal for his replacement. Aquilani has agreed a five-year contract worth £85,000 a week, with the move dependent on a medical on Merseyside tomorrow.
The 25-year-old has been hampered by injury at Roma and made his last appearance for the club in their Champions League defeat by Arsenal in March. A gifted, attack-minded midfielder, Aquilani made only 14 appearances in Serie A last season and is still recovering from an operation on his right ankle in May. He is not expected to be fit for the start of the new Premier League season, which begins for Liverpool at White Hart Lane on 16 August, and Benítez will have to be convinced of the Italian's fitness to complete the transfer.
"Alberto is a very good player and I'm delighted we've reached agreement with Roma for his transfer," said Benítez. "Alberto has a winning mentality and great experience in both Serie A and the Champions League. He has long been recognised as a top-class talent in Italy, captaining his country at both Under-19 and Under-21 levels before establishing himself in the senior national side."
Liverpool opened talks with Roma about Aquilani several weeks ago in readiness for Alonso's anticipated move to the Bernabéu and finalised a fee as soon as Real completed their £30m deal. Benítez said he had hoped to keep his compatriot even after Alonso announced he wished to leave Anfield in May, but granted his wish once Real met the £30m asking price.
"We would have liked to have kept him but as soon as he told us that he wanted to leave we started working, looking for players and trying to do the best deal for the club," Benítez said. "It has been too long, since May, that he told us he wanted to leave and after the official transfer request we were working very hard. The first idea was to keep him, and the second one was to find the best price and the best replacement for us."
Financial pressures at Roma have forced the club to sell the Italian international, who rejected moves to Arsenal and Chelsea as a teenager to play for his boyhood club. Aquilani made his first team debut at 18 under the then Giallorossi manager Fabio Capello, made his Italy debut in 2006 and played for them at Euro 2008.
Benítez's next move is likely to be for a central defender, with cover required for Sami Hyypia who has joined Bayer Leverkusen and with both Martin Skrtel and Daniel Agger nursing hamstring and back injuries respectively. Portsmouth's Sylvain Distin is a possible target for the Liverpool manager, as is Michael Turner, but Hull's valuation of the defender far exceeds what Benítez is prepared to pay.
