Alberto Aquilani made his 25th appearance of the season for AC Milan on the weekend, coming on as an 85th minute substitute against Roma. Based on statements from the player's agent, this means that the automatic transfer clause in his loan deal has now been triggered—Milan get the midfielder, and Liverpool get around £5M spread over three annual instalments beginning this summer.

The mood surrounding Liverpool may have improved with the return of Kenny Dalglish, but with a pair each of losses and draws to go along with four wins as he and the club entered March, that renewed optimism hadn't always led to results. At least, though, there was a widespread feeling that it had become a squad capable of turning the proverbial corner and going on a run if they could only manage to make all the pieces fit together.

You're still the same man you always were; the same yelling, passionate defender. There are still those glorious, goal saving last ditch tackles to look forward to. At least sometimes. And there are still those clearances that get lost in the stadium lights, too, which—let's face it—are hardly a recent development.

Deadline day' has arrived, and it doesn't especially matter that Liverpool seems to have largely wrapped up their summer dealings. Because deadline day has arrived. Which means that if you haven't stocked up on bottled water and tins of beans already, you're pretty much out of luck for when the insanity kicks off in a couple of hours and the country grinds to a halt, staring rapt, fixated on Sky Sports' scrolling ticker.

The window closes on Wednesday at midnight in England, and with Liverpool getting the bulk of their incomings sorted well before the season even started there may not be all that much room for the excitement of a last minute acquisition or three. Still, there are a few chunks of remaining deadwood the club would desperately love to be rid of at any cost.

In the past five seasons, Liverpool have had only three fullbacks reach the thirty match mark Steve Finnan and John Arne Riise played in 33 league matches apiece in the 2006-2007 season, and Emiliano Insua made 31 appearances after being forced into regular duty in the 2009-2010 season. Álvaro Arbeloa came close a few times, as has Glen Johnson since arriving, but it's been a tough marker to reach for a Liverpool fullback.

Today we learn that Alberto Aquilani's agent probably doesn't have trismus, writing about groins in a semi- serious manner is harder than you'd think, and Dirk Kuyt likes to sit in the lotus position and chant Om Namah Shivaya. All that awesomeness and more in today's news and notes, a Hans Moleman production.

One year ago today, Christian Purslow sacked Rafa Benitez and the club began its nosedive into the abyss, descending from a stumbled-to seventh place finish towards Roy Hodgson, Joe Cole, Christian Poulsen, and Paul Koncheskey, while backroom battles brewed and potential suitors fell by the wayside.

The transfer window still doesn't officially opens across Europe until July first. In England it actually opened at midnight on the day the domestic season ended. Either way, there are always pre-agreements to be made and fees agreed, and all because most players a club might be after couldn't officially be transfered for another month doesn't mean nothing can happen.

All of a sudden there is talk that Juventus may struggle to pay the £13.5 fee* for Alberto Aquilani agreed by Christian Purslow should the Italian club wish to purchase him before the loan agreement expires on July 1st. Some are even whispering that they might struggle to afford the 60-70k a week he's reportedly on moving forward, even if they can come up with the required transfer fee.

Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in...

* Over in Amsterdam, Luis Suarez spent the weekend saying goodbye to his former club. There were fireworks, and an MC, and kicking souvenir balls into the crowd, and laughter and tears and smiles and waves and and and I really don't quite get it.

Is it too late to start a poll on which Liverpool player gets the first yellow card for a foul on Torres? Or how long it takes before he mopes when a call doesn't go his way? Nevermind. But hey, speaking of polls (woo!

We're down to a little more than a day left in the January window, and no real news on the Torres front is no real news. Well, let's see if we can figure out where we all stand, then...

* For what it's worth, the BBC's Dan Roan is reporting that Liverpool would pull the trigger if Chelsea offered £50M, which is now widely reported to be the buy out inserted in Torres' contract by Christian Purslow and set to be activated in the coming summer if Liverpool don't by some miracle manage to get into the Champions League.

With news coming out that Paul Konchesky's move back to his former club Fulham is all but assured, it looks as though Liverpool will be saying goodbye to one more reminder of the short-lived Roy Hodgson era at anfield. This is, at least on the surface, good news, though it has been in the works in some form or another for a while now.