Premier League Transfers: 15 Talented Imports Who Completely Flopped

12. Alberto Aquilani

Alberto Aquilani joined Liverpool for a big fee during the ill-fated reign of Tom Hicks and George Gillette. The Italian was signed by Rafa Benitez, for what would turn out to be his final season at the club. In the years since, Benitez has received a lot of criticism for the signing- which is partially unfair. Aquilani had performed with distinction for his previous club AS Roma- if he could reproduce that level of performance then the price tag would have been justified. With Xabi Alonso having departed for Real Madrid it appeared Aquilani would be his long term replacement €“ but he would struggle to even get a game at his new club. Despite joining the team in August he failed to make a Premier League appearance until November; this trend of sporadic appearances would define his time at the club, as Aquilani failed to make any sort of impression and was clearly not fancied by the manager. A change in management did little to change this as Roy Hodgson and Kenny Dalglish both chose to loan him back to Seire A. After spending stints on loan at Juventus and AC Milan, Aquilani finally got a full transfer to Fiorentina. Having performed well in Florence he appears to have put his Liverpool hell behind him, and has gone some way to rebuilding his reputation.