Alberto Aquilani born 7 July 1984 is an Italian footballer who plays for Serie A club Juventus on loan from Premier League side Liverpool. He is also part of the Italian national team. Aquilani is a central midfielder, who can operate in a holding position or an attacking position in the hole behind the strikers.
Aquilani began his career at Roma and, after a brief loan spell at Triestina, returned to the Serie A club where he became a regular in the Roma side during the 2005–06 season. Unfortunately in the following season, he suffered a thigh injury and was ruled out for several months. He moved to Liverpool for the start of the 2009–10 season, in a deal that, including add ons, could potentially be worth £20m in total. Though in August 2010, after being criticised for a lack of starts at Anfield, he joined Juventus on loan until the end of the season.
Internationally, Aquilani has represented Italy at international level youth level and at the Euro 2008. He made his full international debut in November 2006 in a 1–1 draw against Turkey.
At youth level, Aquilani was capped for Italy at 2001 European Under-21 Football Championship qualifying. He won 2003 UEFA European Under-19 Football Championship with Italy and scored one goal. He was then promoted to the U21 team and took part in 2006 European Under-21 Football Championship qualifying, but missed out on the final tournament due to injury.
Aquilani made his senior debut on 15 November 2006 in a 1–1 friendly against Turkey.He played as a regular during the 2007 U-21 Championship held in the Netherlands, scoring two goals, and being named in the "UEFA Team of the Tournament". Italy finished 5th and qualified for the 2008 Olympics. He was named to the 23-man roster for Euro 2008, his first major international tournament. He came on as a sub in Italy's third game of the tournament, which was a 2–0 victory over France. He started Italy's quarter-final match against Spain due to the suspensions to Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso. Italy lost 4–2 in a shootout after a 0–0 tie through 120 minutes. He also said to liverpool that if he had a choice between the two clubs it was juventus was his prefferd destination
Aquilani scored his first goal for Italy during the 2010 World Cup qualification match against Montenegro on 15 October 2008, a tally he doubled later in the same match. In spite of this, the national team manager Marcelo Lippi opted not to include him in the 23-man Italian squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
ALBERTO AQUILINI PROFILE
Full name: Alberto Aquilani
Date of birth: 7 July 1984
Place of birth: Rome, Italy
Height: 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position: Midfielder
Club information
Current club: Juventus (on loan from Liverpool)
Number: 14
Youth career
1999–2003 Roma
Senior career
2002–2009 Roma 102 (9)
2003–2004 → Triestina (loan) 41 (4)
2009– Liverpool 18 (1)
2010– → Juventus (loan) 26 (2)
National team
2000 Italy U-15 8 (0)
2000–2001 Italy U-16 13 (0)
2001 Italy U-17 2 (0)
2002 Italy U-18 6 (0)
2001–2003 Italy U-19 18 (3)
2003 Italy U-20 2 (1)
2004–2007 Italy U-21 20 (5)
2006– Italy 13 (2)