Liverpool Close to Alberto Aquilani Loan Deal: 5 Reasons to Not Sell Ace

While AC Milan would only confirm that talks are ongoing, Inside Futbol is reporting that Milan has agreed to Liverpool’s terms to take out-of-favor midfielder Alberto Aquilani on loan for this season. 

Reportedly an option to buy Aquilani at £5 million after the season kicks in should the player affectionately known as Il Gladiatore feature in a minimum 25 games.

In today’s edition of the Liverpool Echo, former Liverpool great and Irish international John Aldridge touches on the case of Liverpool’s pendant midfielder and argues “Why Selling Alberto Aquilani makes sense.”  The “article” is short on both words and substance, so rather than paraphrase I’ll just quote it here in its entirety:

"

IT looks like Alberto Aquilani will leave Liverpool this week and I think we’re right to off-load him.

He just doesn’t fit into our style of play or system. To accommodate him you would have to play him in the hole just behind a striker and that’s not going to happen.

Aquilani has got talent but physically he’s not cut out for the Premier League.

It hasn’t worked out for him at Anfield and hopefully whatever fee we get will be reinvested in the squad.

A centre-back is needed and if David Ngog goes to Bolton we’ll need a young up and coming striker as well before the window shuts.

"

To counter Aldridge’s assertions, here are 5 reasons why selling Aquilani does not make sense.

5. There Is a Current Buyer's Market for Aquilani

Everyone even remotely following Liverpool knows that Aquilani is being portrayed as surplus to requirements, and therefore the club is being low-balled by the Milans and Fiorentinas of the world.

Aquilani arrived at Liverpool for £18 million from Roma in late summer, 2009. 

His current going price is reported to be £6 million, a staggering loss of 66% were he to be sold at present. Now, the other side of the argument is that when the price of a stock is plummeting it is wiser to sell and cut your losses rather than to hesitate and suffer an even bigger loss. 

But then again, this is football. A player's form seems a bit more stable of an entity than stock maneuvering.

As it stands, Aquilani is under contract for three more seasons, and if in fact he is not in team plans then yes, perhaps he should be sold now, but Liverpool would still be on the hook for the bulk of his contract. 

It makes more business sense to keep him, rather than toss away his potential in the name of saving a paltry £6 million.

4. Aquilani Is a Better and More Accomplished Player Than Jordan Henderson

Unlike the still unproven—and so far with the club—unsuccessful Jordan Henderson (snapped up from Sunderland in the offseason), Aquilani is a proven player capable of playing in his preferred attacking-mid role behind the pair of strikers. 

He is ably competent however at sitting in a more central role and setting up the attack.

He is a gifted passer, possessed of both excellent vision and exquisite technique, and a tremendous shooter from distance.

Qualities not yet seen from young Mr. Henderson, whether during the European Under 21 Championships with England, or during his first couple of games with the Reds.

Aquilani reportedly posted a passing success rate of 80% last season for Juventus (he was loaned to the Turin-based club), and in his debut season with Liverpool in 2009-2010, he won 4 Man of the Match honors in just 9 starts. 

That season he also assisted on a goal every 136 minutes according to Opta Stats… an astounding rate that was tops not only in the Premier League, but tops across all 5 top European leagues.

3. the EPL Is No More Physical for Him Than It Is for Other Elite Players

Admittedly, he’s been injury-prone throughout his career, and particularly so since moving to Anfield (injured upon arrival in August, it took him until late October, 2009 to feature for the senior side in a Carling Cup match against Arsenal), but this is more a reflection of the sometimes brutish nature of the game, than a knock on the player himself.

If the Premier is too physical for him then it must also be too physical for Steven Gerrard, he of the erstwhile healthy groin.

Gerrard hasn’t exactly been a bastion of fitness over the past two seasons. With the exception of their playing styles, every excuse extended Gerrard is also applicable to Aquilani.

Midfield is a battleground and any player through whom a team runs its offense, will necessarily attract a fair bit of attention from defensive/tackling players.

The list of players who are smaller than Aquilani, yet who are thriving in the PL is long, but includes the likes of David Silva, Tom Cleverley, Leighton Baines, and Liverpool’s own Daniel Pacheco. 

Size of course does not tell the complete picture, but none of these players are necessarily more physical than Aquilani, therefore rubbishing that argument.

2. Aquilani's Game Is Tailor-Made for European Football—Red's Goal

If a return to top-flight European football is indeed our target, then it makes sense to have players familiar with the European game.

Of course, the Champion’s League has no real “style” of play, as each team brings its own particular brand, influenced by the domestic leagues, to the tournament. That's part of what makes it such a thrilling spectacle.

One constant, though, is that the referees in the Champions League tend to favor shifty, finesse style more affiliated with Continental football, than the physically-demanding (did I mention physical!) play inherent in the English game.

Now, holding onto an expensive player, arguably surplus to requirements, in the off chance that he’d draw a couple fouls, in the off chance that we even qualify for European play next season, not even this one, is admittedly not a very strong argument. It does tie in neatly with the No. 1 reason why he should not be sold however, which is…

1. Aquilani Fits in Perfectly with Kenny Dalglish’s “pass and move" Style

Dalglish is attempting to reconstruct the Liverpool offense from the “kick and chase” style that is prevalent in the Premier League, to a more passing, fluid, style predicated upon ball possession.

This style of play requires midfielders with excellent vision, passing and technical ability, dribbling, creativity and movement. According to Four Four Two Magazine’s Spotter, Aquilani is tailor-made for the role.

Since Xabi Alonso’s departure for Real Madrid in 2009, Steven Gerrard has been asked to fulfill the role of facilitator, causing him to sacrifice much of his attacking game in the process. Suffice to say that Liverpool hasn’t been the same since. Lucas has drastically improved since his days as the running punchline of EPL pundit jokes, but he's no Alonso.

Of course the Aquilani-as-Alonso replacement has thus far proven to be a fiction, but largely due to the fact that Aqua has rarely featured with the club.

There is no good reason to not extend the opportunity for him to fulfill that role, and allow Gerrard to sit in the hole behind the forwards.

Simply put, Liverpool is not possessed of a better passer of the ball at the moment. Charlie Adam is too charitable with his passes and Henderson does not seem up to snuff, at least not yet. Aquilani is more dynamic going forward than both those players.

Raul Meireles is a good enough distributor of the ball, but seems to operate best out wide, despite his glaring lack of pace.

While I am not entirely opposed to a loan move, I still believe the sounder bet is to keep Aquilani at Anfield this season and at least present him half the opportunity seemingly being given to a prodigal Henderson. 

Dalglish immediately thrust Adam, Downing, and Henderson into starting roles upon arrival. Whether he refuses to give Aquilani the same chance because he did not recruit the player—or, as a former Liverpool player, resents that the Italian was purchased by Rafael Benitez, the man who led the Reds out of the CL in the first place—remains to be seen.

The man deserves a fair chance to show what he can do on a regular basis.