So, what of Aquilani?

[dww]

So will this effect the price i wonder, it puts pay to any add ons for now, due to trophies won or games played for liverpool.

Interesting point. Not sure how much of the fee was conditional on such things - I didn't think it was all that much.

I like Aquilani - I think he looks like a really good player. Obviously fitness is one worry but I think another factor in the loan is the related psychological element in a players form. He hasn't played consecutive games for a long while and without regular games he is unlikely to find confidence or form. With the arrival of Cole and the seeming determination of Hodgson to play him centrally he was only ever a first or second reserve who would have to fight his way into the starting XI.

I would rather we had sold him but I guess finding a buyer at a decent price might be hard now two independent medical teams have failed to get him ready to play consistently.

[smu1977]

Just confirmed on BBC as well. No mention of an option to buy as yet. Personally I don't think he will be back. A good run at Juve in a league he knows well will encourage someone to bid for him. If he has a good season and stays injury free we could still get 12-15 mill for him.



Just realised the flaw in my argument, see if you can spot it...

[Bender]

Perhaps but we will not know for sure, will we? He was not given any opportunity to show why he was purchased in the first place and that is unfortunate.

I can see the point of loaning him if we have someone else in pipes but if not I am not convinced this is a good decision especially for this season.

To me we should have kept him as he can give us more creativity and dept (what do we do if JC and SG are both injured which happened to both quite a lot) which were/are things we are in short supply.

Hang on it would have been %200 better to have signed a injured player on loan rather than buy outright.....

[Mostar]

Hang on it would have been %200 better to have signed a injured player on loan rather than buy outright.....

There wasn't even a remote chance to get him on a loan. Not a chance. Only way for Roma to depart with him was to sell him.

[Bender]

There wasn't even a remote chance to get him on a loan. Not a chance. Only way for Roma to depart with him was to sell him.

tbh then we should have stayed clear.......they must have been rubbing their hands once they sold him

[Rich]

If only someone could tell me what we paid for Aquilani!

[Bender]

From elsewhere:
ALBERTO AQUILANI - The truth about his transfer fee. How much will he REALLY cost?
There seems to be a lot of confusion over how much Liverpool paid/will eventually pay Roma for the services of Alberto Aquilani. Figures such as £20m, £17m and £5m (!) have been bandied about, but the truth is the total outlay could (potentially) turn out to be much more.

On the 8th August 2009, Roma released official details of Aquilani's transfer fee. The fee is broken down as follows:

Four cash installments:

* €5m upfront
* €3m by 4th January 2010
* €7m by June 30th 2010
* €5m by June 30th 2011.

Base transfer fee = €20m/£18m

Further Add ons include:

* €300k for every year Liverpool qualify for the CL from 2010/11 to 2014/15.

* €250k every time the player reaches 35 appearancs; 70 appearances; 105 appeances and then 140 appearances.

* €1m the first time Liverpool either wins the Premier League or Champions League by 30 June 2014.

* 5% of any future transfer fee paid to Roma.

ANALYSIS (all figures converted to pounds using today's conversion rate)

* If Liverpool qualify for the Cl every year from 2010 to 2015, a further £1.3m will become payable. How likely is it this will happen? Liverpool have featured in the CL in 8 of the last 9 seasons. There is no reason to think this will not continue.

POTENTIAL EXTRA COST: £1.3m (Based on CL qualification every year)

* If Aquilani reaches 140 appearances, a further £900k will become payable. Is this possible? For Aquilani to achieve that figure, he would need to make a measly 28 appearances each season for 5 years. This is clearly achievable.

POTENTIAL EXTRA COST: £900k

* If Liverpool win the league or CL by June 2014, a further £900k per trophy will become payable. Is it possible that Liverpool might win the league and CL in the next 5 years? Absolutely.

POTENTIAL EXTRA COST: £1.8m

* 5% of any future transfer fee to be paid to Roma. As an example: If Aquilani stays for the full 5 years of his contract he will be 30 years old. If he then leaves, it is unlikely that Liverpool will recoup the initial outlay (due to his age). So - if we conservatively estimate that Liverpool receive half the original price, that would net the club £9m.

POTENTIAL EXTRA COST: £450k (5% of 9m)

* Using the fact that only €5m has been paid so far as some kind of excuse/way to manipulate net spend is not fair or accurate. The total amount of the base fee will still have to be paid in less than 2 years!

CONCLUSION

The following is definite:

* Liverpool will pay £18m for Aquilani.

The following is highly probable:

* £2.2m will become payable as a result CL qualification/appearance levels

* £450k (or whetever fee we get for him) will become payable when Aquilani is sold. (This figure is just for the sake of debate - I'm not saying this WILL happen!)

The following is less probable but still possible:

* £1.8m will become payable as a result of winning the league/CL

POTENTIAL TOTAL COST OF TRANSFER - £22.45m

[Neil Young]

If only someone could tell me what we paid for Aquilani!

More than his worth.

[billy_mac]

anyone reckon he'll actually get more games at juve? i'm not sure he will.

I certainly hope he dose, but I'm thinking along the same lines as you, I don't think he will.

Maybe he'll catch Rafa's eye again.

[kingfunk]

Jeeez, it didnt take long to start going backwards again.

[Roboklopp]

What a complete an utter bad joke from start to protracted finish. Farcical and depressing in the extreme.

[BobTheCharmer]

Jeeez, it didnt take long to start going backwards again.

In what respect have we gone backwards? I haven't felt this much love for the club in years. Exciting times. Roy is shipping out the ****. Given a little time and the results will follow. We have a ****ing excellent chance of winning a trophy this year, injuries permitting.

[EwarWoo]

I dunno that Aquilani could be considered shipping out the ****, he's not been given more than half a chance. Bit bloody silly really.

There's gotta be something which as happened behind the scenes we're not aware of, it's the only things which makes sense.

The amount he cost then to never get a decent chance....bizarre.

[Mostar]

I dunno that Aquilani could be considered shipping out the ****, he's not been given more than half a chance. Bit bloody silly really.

There's gotta be something which as happened behind the scenes we're not aware of, it's the only things which makes sense.

The amount he cost then to never get a decent chance....bizarre.

[RedReet]

of course i can't clai to know what's really going on , but if he can't get into the poorest liverpool side in years,] you might not be blamed for wondering... not just under benitez now, as well.

Eh?