By Alan Duffy
Once touted as the man to bring an added creative spark to the Reds’ midfield, Alberto Aquilani looks set to finally break all connections with the Anfield club and make his move to Milan a permanent one.
The £17million signing of the glamorous Roma playmaker in 2009 by Rafa Benitez was expected to infuse the Red’s midfield with a classy and creative spark. However, despite sparkling in a number of games, the Italian never fully established himself in the first 11, with his fitness seemingly an issue.
The arrival of Roy Hodgson to replace Benitez in the summer of 2010 saw Aquilani eventually make a loan move to Juventus and the following year (with Kenny Dalglish now in charge), the Azzurri star made another loan move to Italy, this time to Milan where he has appeared regularly with the Serie A league leaders.
Now, according to his agent Franco Zavaglia, Aquilani is set to make the move to the Rossoneri a permanent one. Zavaglia said:
“As it was agreed, a permanent deal will automatically be struck once he makes 25 appearances. I do not think that Milan will pass up on Aquilani. There is no problem about this, a permanent deal is something we all expect.”
A cut-price fee of around £5million is expected to be paid by Milan. However, one wonders if the midfielder really got enough of a chance to make his mark at Anfield.