Liverpool recently signed ex-Roma midfielder Aquilani. Whilst he is a very good player, Aquilani has an infamous reputation for injuries, and at Roma he was cruelly labelled by fans as 'Swarovski' due to his constant physical problems. In the last three seasons Aquilani has made just 13, 21 and 14 league appearances respectively due mainly to injuries.

As I continue my move, it's as though I've been transferred:

• DMB leaving Rangers finally?
  
• Everton taking a look at our Landon Donovan.
  
• Sol Campbell to save United's defense?
  
• Liverpool says Aquilani isn't frustrated.
  
• Fabregas wants a target man at Arsenal.

Deal almost done!

When Alonso officially informed Liverpool last week that he wanted to move to the Bernabeu, the Reds were given encouragement by cashstrapped Roma to open talks with Aquilani.

Liverpool are ready to strike a compromise deal with Madrid at about £28m less than their initial £32m valuation, However, it is still £12m above what Liverpool were willing to accept from Juventus for Alonso a year ago.

Why replace a inspirational visionary midfielder with a distinctly average injury prone Italian?

Surely we would not sell our most influential, consistent and best(?) player of last season and replace him with an injury prone Italian that at best is a good player, no, not brilliant, world class or amazing he is a better player of an average Roma team and his injury record is awful, to top it all off he is isn't even into full pre-season training as he has just come back from holiday (sorry didn't mean that) no you guessed it an injury!

The moment all Liverpool fans have been waiting for came last night when Alberto Aquilani made his competitive debut for the club. (hurrah!) Here is footage of all the moments in which he was involved during the game.
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If you believe what you hear - and what you saw against Fulham - you'll probably believe the wolves are at the door for Señor Benitez. However, I'll try to put things in perspective without using an array of cringe-worthy Halloween puns.
What happened against Fulham was a disaster, and a game we shouldn't have lost going into.

Optimism is a pre-requisite for football supporters. It takes different forms; winning a trophy for one club is the equivalent of avoiding relegation at another. The supporter, before and during a season, will invariably swing between belief and the less palatable outcome. As the Premier League avalanche sweeps all before it, the downward trajectory is being ignored.

Every day, another million links:

• Adebayor close to Manchester City?
  
• Or Manchester United?
  
• Danny Szetela to D.C. United.
  
• Flip-flopping. John Terry not for sale now?
  
• Barca sign Inter defender Maxwell.
  
• Downing to Aston Villa.
  
• Ronaldo happy to stay at Corinthians.

COS's Anfield Correspondent considers the possiblity of a dream deal not coming to fruition.

Is a move for David Silva imminent? That is the question being asked by supporters of both Liverpool and Manchester United on this website. The rumour mill seems to have been working overtime on this one and we have even seen comments posted on the site claiming that a deal has already been done with the Valencia player: with fans of both North West clubs believing he is as good as theirs.

Italian midfielder displaying his skills to rather dodgy Italian rock soundtrack!

• Liverpool Sign £15.3m Aquilani: Italian Signs £3.4m a Year Deal (24)
• Liverpool Set to Complete £18m Aquilani Deal the Moment Alonso Leaves! (15)
• Liverpool In Talks to Land £16m Midfield Magician (19)
• Liverpool Set to Clinch £22m Midfield Maestro Signing (38)
• Liverpool Rep in Rome To Complete £29.

Come on Rafa!

David Silva has been linked with us longer than Bill Shankly it feels, but can anyone really see him coming to Anfield? surely by the time we sign him he will be past his prime, Aquilani I personally find a strange fit, I admit that I haven't seen that much of him and when I have seen him he seems ok rather than outstanding, his fitness record isn't great plus the success of the Italians in the EPL isn't fantastic.

Great Player, Great Price!

Just supposing that Owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett do want to retain an ounce of credibility at Anfield and that they do have the decency to give Rafa some of the cash from the Xabi Alonso sale to the Liverpool boss before the transfer window closes then this is the player who could well take the club that bit nearer to the ending their domestic league hoodoo.

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.

Ever since 17 year old Manchester United striker Federico Macheda has scored those two goals in the last two league games, the Italian media has been publishing articles about how Italy doesn't put faith in young players. On the one hand, it is true, Italy is a traditional society and most managers have the traditional view that players have to mature first and if you play them regularly too early you will "burn" them.

As the epic Alonso transfer saga approaches the conclusion many reds have long since given up as inevitable there has been a growing link with Italian international Alberto Aquilani. In my opinion although not at the same level as Alonso, he is undoubtedly a midfielder with impressive vision, two footed ability, pace and an eye for [.

The news of Xabi's exit is gathering momentum

After weeks of wrangling a deal has been reached...

Real Madrid have had an offer of €32 million accepted by Liverpool for Xabi Alonso and a pre-accord has been sealed that will see the player move back to Spain this week, according to a report.

Well that was quick. Liverpool has come to an agreement with Roma for the transfer of Aquilani whose fee is rumored to be around £20 million. This is of course provided that he passes a medical on Thursday that will take a good look at the surgery on his ankle. Hopefully, all goes well and he can start meshing with his new club.

Apparently Rafa doesn't have much in the way of cash, if only we could offload these guys!

If reports that I have been reading are accurate then we are in a bit of a financial pickle and in order to bring in new players we need to offload those who really don't belong, such as these four.

Andriy Voronin Value £4-6m

Not had a bad pre-season but then he has performed well in friendlies before and is by no means likely to get a starting spot anytime soon.

Is this their year? If they can keep their starting XI healthy, it sure looks like it could be. However, they've already lost Alonso to Madrid and his replacement, Aquilani, is injured for the next month or two. Their senior central defenders are all doubtful for the start of the season as are, most importatntly, Gerrard and Torres.

Yossi Benayoun was superb in his 20 minute cameo against Spurs yesterday and looked like the only Liverpool player on the pitch who was capable of creating anything. After his excellent contribution last season, Benayoun should be starting every game but he continues to be ignored by Rafa Benitez.
I really can't understand why Benayoun didn't start at White Hart Lane; he really came into his own last season and the momentum he built up should have been allowed to continue.

Has Rafa Benitez lied over the fitness of Alberto Aquilani? Is it fair to label Liverpool's manager a liar over the regularly changing estimates about the Italian's return to fitness? That is the question being considered here.
Let's take a look at the evidence.
AUG 7th 2009: Statement on the official Liverpool FC website:
"Liverpool FC confirmed this evening that Alberto Aquilani has successfully completed a medical and agreed a 5-year contract with the club.

So Torres won't be risked, but is this the week we see Aquilani? Walcott is out again for Arsenal who also have Song suspeneded. Everton lost Distin and Gosling in midweek further diminishing their options, and already had Heitinga suspended for the visit of Spurs. All your team news, including a glut of crocked strikers: Soccernet: Premier League Team News Football365: Premier League

With his ineffective man-management skills, Rafa Benitez has alienated a whole host of players during his reign, including Peter Crouch, Robbie Keane, Yossi Benayoun, Ryan Babel and Xabi Alonso. The latest person to feel the full force of the 'Benitez Effect' is new signing Alberto Aquilani, who has become 'frustrated' with his manager's cautious approach.

Youngster targeted by Rafa.

Athletic Bilbao midfielder Javi Martinez remains a target for Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez.

A tall, powerful, hard-working midfielder, Martinez's game is viewed by Benitez as ideal for the rigours of the Premiership.

Despite a disappointing U21 European Championships with Spain, Benitez intends to move for Benitez if Real Madrid meet his asking price for Xabi Alonso.

This is actually one of the better compilation tribute video's I have seen, with a great U2 soundtrack. Last season was arguably the Spaniards best for the club, and this well made five minute piece adequately displays that. Enjoy!

• The Rumour Room: Daily Round-Up (3)
• Liverpool Set to Make £11m Bid for 'Xabi Alonso Mk II' (10)
• Liverpool Sign £15.

Lot of 'em today:

• Has the Xabi-to-Real Madrid move been agreed on?
  
• Chelsea won't sell Joe Cole.
  
• Senderos to Everton?
  
• Blackburn gets Blues' Di Santo.
  
• Messi gets new Barca offer.
  
• Sunderland nearly has Bent.
  
• Trezeguet staying at Juve.

The main reason I hate writing during the transfer window is it prompts even more uninformed opinion than usual. I try to have at least some observation and statistics to back up my other "analysis."
Consequently, I'm hesitant to write too much about Alberto Aquilani or define the player before he plays for Liverpool.

Hopefully Rafa won't make a second bid!

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez has seen a bid to land defender Michael Turner on the cheap fail after Hull demanded £12million.
Benitez saw a verbal enquiry amounting to £6m for the highly rated centre half rejected out of hand.
Hull manager Phil Brown rates his prize asset at double that price and intends to hold out for a bigger fee.

Seems unlikely to me.

LIVERPOOL plan to monitor Reading striker Simon Church during the season with a view to signing him next year.

Former Liverpool boss Roy Evans has spoken to Rafa Benitez about the talented captain of Wales Under-21s.

Evans, who is the Wales assistant boss, rates Church, 20, highly and has told Benitez to keep an eye out for him in the Championship.

After losing only two games throughout the whole of last season, we've now managed to lose two in the space of just 10 days.
Which means that Liverpool have to adopt a positive mental outlook in every game from here on in.
The Reds were held to too many draws last season.
But the margin for error in the modern title race is so slim that draws are no use any more.

Liverpool fans should hopefully see Alberto Aquilani in a red shirt for the first time at the end of this month, but where will the Italian fit into the team and will he be used effectively?
With three defeats in 8 premiership games already, the pressure is on for Liverpool to start producing premiership winning performances on a more consistent basis.

Alberto Aquilani showed a few good touches on his debut against Sunderland reserves last night. Now let's get him in the first team!

Liverpool and Injuries by Jonny Neale Benitez "We have just too many problems, I cannot remember an injury situation like this." http://www.football365.com/story/0,17033,8652_5641497,00.html By my reckoning Liverpool are 'potentially' missing 6 players for the next game - Gerrard, Torres, Johnson, Aquilani, Kelly, Kyrgiakos Of those, two players wouldn't normally make the first team anyway (I [.

There's no option to italicize,bold and increase the font to 15 of the word "Bad" there. But I think you got the message already so I leave it to you. Listen, this whole global warming thing is sickening. There's also widespread poverty and a lot of kids with AK47 guns. Added to that are extra problems like say the rising Fuel prices, water problem and traffic through the city.

2:45pm, live in the US on FSC
Last 3 matches:
Liverpool: 1-3 Fulham (a); 1-2 Arsenal (a); 2-0 United (h)
Lyon: 1-0 St Etienne (a); 1-4 Nice (a); 2-1 Liverpool (a)
Group Stage:
Liverpool: 1-2 Lyon (h); 0-2 Fiorentina (a); 1-0 Debrecen (h)
Lyon: 2-1 Liverpool (a); 4-0 Debrecen (a); 1-0 Fiorentina (h)
Referee: Frank De Bleeckere (BEL)
De Bleeckere was the man in the middle for wins over Inter and Real in the last two seasons.

Liverpool drew 1-1 with Lyon last night, leaving any chance of getting through the group stages of the Champion's League hanging by a thread' but what do you think went wrong last night? There are a number of possible reasons: Rafa's tactics/his woeful decision to play Voronin/the lack of introduction of Aquilani/bringing on Babel too late, [.

In an interview prior to the Everton game, the ever-cautious Rafa Benitez explained how the physical nature of the Premiership was the main reason Alberto Aquilani was persistently warming the bench. In the same interview, he blatantly contradicted himself over the state of the player's fitness, something that arguably sheds light on the real reason the Italian is being held back.

So let's see: Another HOME loss; 9th defeat of the season; woeful lack of real creativity; no discernible cohesiveness/fluency; worst points total since the Champions League began; Dirk Kuyt starting again and contributing nothing. Steven Gerrard strutting around with palpable disinterest. Gah! I can't be bothered with the bad and ugly stuff tonight; it's too depressing to dissect.

Liverpool have given Real Madrid two-day deadline to sign want-away midfielder Xabi Alonso, after Benitez came to terms with losing the Spaniard. Los Merengues have offered €27 million, but just three million more should do the trick. Inler or Aquilani are seen as possible replacements.

Rounding up all the yesterday's biggest transfer news and gossip.

Rafa Searches For Replacements As Alonso Hands In Transfer Request
Alonso has today handed in a written transfer request, paving the way for Aquilani to join Liverpool. It is believed that Real Madrid and Liverpool will agree on a price believed to be between £28M and £30M.