Liverpool agree £20m fee with Roma for Alberto Aquilani

Liverpool agree £20m fee with Roma for Alberto Aquilani

Rafael Benítez, the Liverpool manager, wasted no time reinvesting the money raised from the sale of Xabi Alonso to Real Madrid yesterday by agreeing to sign Alberto Aquilani, the Italy midfield player, from Roma for €20 million (about £17 million), rising to €23 million.

Life is rarely without its complications at Anfield, though, and any deal for Aquilani will hinge on the player passing a stringent medical in the next 48 hours amid concerns about the Italian’s troublesome injury record.

Benítez was informed in May that Alonso wanted to leave Liverpool, so he has had plenty of time to line up a replacement, but while he is convinced that Aquilani is the player best suited to fill the void left by the Spaniard, the manager is not prepared to gamble on the 25-year-old’s fitness.

Aquilani is recovering from surgery he had on his right ankle in May and his tenure at Roma has been blighted by injury problems. He has played only 73 games in three seasons for Roma and his last appearance came as a substitute on March 11, against Arsenal in the Champions League.

Liverpool need only look at the way in which Owen Hargreaves’s career at Manchester United has been severely curtailed by tendinitis since the England midfield player’s £20.2 million move from Bayern Munich two years ago to know the risks inherent in spending a lot of money on a player with a history of injuries, but Benítez has no doubts about Aquilani’s talent.

“Alberto has a winning mentality and great experience in both Serie A and the Champions League,” the manager said. “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.”

Benítez also believes that the level of expertise of Anfield’s medical staff is considerably higher than Roma’s. The Liverpool manager sees Aquilani as a greater goal threat than Alonso, with a more physical presence.

Aquilani is unlikely to be the final acquisition by Liverpool before the close of the transfer window on September 1, as Benítez, who has already signed Glen Johnson, the England right back, from Portsmouth for £18.5 million, contemplates a second raid on the South Coast club, for Sylvain Distin.

With Daniel Agger and Martin Skrtel, who have back and hamstring injuries respectively, struggling to be fit for the opening game of the new Barclays Premier League season away to Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday week, Benítez has only one fit, recognised centre half available — Jamie Carragher — after the exit of Sami Hyypia to Bayer Leverkusen and the manager wants cover in the position.

The Times revealed Liverpool’s interest in Distin in June, although not for the first time this summer, Benítez is likely to face competition from Manchester City for the defender. Having lost out to City for Gareth Barry, the midfield player, Liverpool will not want to end up second best again.

Benítez’s determination to sign Barry the previous summer and sacrifice Alonso in the process was the principle reason why the Spaniard decided to leave after five seasons at Anfield.

Sir Alex Ferguson, the United manager, may have attempted to render Liverpool’s loss of Alonso as insignificant yesterday when he mischievously claimed that, regardless, Chelsea will represent United’s biggest obstacle to retaining the Premier League title, but the Merseyside club’s supporters will doubtless disagree.

The £30 million fee, with a further £5 million possibly to come depending on Real’s success, will help to soften the blow of losing one of their idols, but it remains to be seen what impact Alonso’s departure has on Liverpool’s title prospects. Aquilani is gifted, but even if he stays fit, he has no experience of playing in the Premier League and may struggle to adjust.

Albert Riera, the winger, appeared to be in a lot of pain when he was carried off with an ankle injury in the friendly away to Lyn Oslo, in Norway, last night to add to Benítez’s injury worries before the start of the season.