Alberto Aquilani has opened up on his “frustrating” time at Liverpool which saw him derided as one of the Reds’ biggest transfer flops of the modern era.
The Italian arrived at Anfield from Roma in the summer of 2009 for £17million, but struggled to make an impact on Merseyside, with a succession of managers shunning him.
He would make just 28 appearances in the two seasons he spent in Liverpool’s first-team squad, joining Juventus and AC Milan on loan for the rest of the time he was contracted to the Reds.
Aquilani was signed by Rafa Benitez, but the Spaniard left Anfield at the end of the midfielder’s first season at the club, with none of his successors including him in their plans.
Who is the biggest transfer flop in Liverpool's history? Comment below.
Roy Hodgson was the first man to replace Benitez, but sent him on loan to Juve after selecting him for only two games in the first months of the 2010/2011 season.
Those two outings were his last game in a Reds shirt, with the Italian joining Milan immediately after that loan before then moving to Fiorentina on a permanent deal.
And Aquilani has now admitted he has been left frustrated that Liverpool fans will only remember him as a flop.
“I was on a big contract at Liverpool. Maybe I could have stayed and not played next year,” he told the Echo.
“No problem. But I’d never do that there. I tried to find a solution that was good for me and for the club. Always.
“Some players have a big contract and they stay and just run around the training pitch but for me that was no good. Comolli and the people who were working there can tell you that.
“Milan then came in and don’t pay too much. No problem, I go because I want to play. It’s frustrating because now they remember me as a bad player.
“They spent a lot of money but I didn’t do too much. It’s frustrating but it’s the reality and I can do nothing about it.”
Though he was a regular for Juventus in that first loan spell away from Anfield, Aquilani has also revealed he believes that move was a mistake.
“The style of the club was changing. I thought I had to be one of the most important players in the team that year but when I felt that this wouldn’t happen, maybe I made a mistake,” he added.
“The last days of the market I chose to leave because maybe I was too young, maybe I was too comfortable in Italy, maybe because my wife and I had a child on the way, we were more comfortable there.
“Juventus called me and I decided to leave. This was my mistake. I should have gone, ‘No, I am in Liverpool and I will stay there because I am not what you think.’
“When I was there, I felt love from the fans. I felt that because I was different from the type of player that was already there and I feel that the people like me.
"But I didn’t do too much. So I chose this change and went back to Italy because there was a World Cup and I wanted to go there but didn’t.
“When you are young, some people tell you the wrong thing and you make the change. I felt it was better for me that I left.”
