by lakes10 » Wed May 12, 2010 8:23 am
Liverpool to flog flop Aquilani for loss of £13million - Exclusive
By David Maddock
Mirror Football
Liverpool are bracing themselves for a massive financial hit as they look to offload some of their worst flops.
And that could mean that disastrous Italian signing Alberto Aquilani will end up costing them more than £1million a game if they succeed in shipping him out of Anfield swiftly.
The club are ready to listen to offers for Aquilani after manager Rafa Benitez confirmed his one disappointing season at the club will be his last.
And though the Italian cost £20million, there is little chance to recoup even half that, with the Anfield club aware they may be forced to go as low as £7million to ensure they get him off the wage bill.
The midfielder is one of the highest earners at Liverpool, with wages in excess of £70,000 a week, and with finances tight after record losses for the 2008-09 season, there is a need to invest more wisely.
He has started just 12 matches since his big money move from Roma last summer, and with wages of more than £3m a year, that could mean his cost will work out at £1.3million a start if they only get £7million back.
Fiorentina are interested in the player, but the Tuscan side will not go above £7million, and his wages are also thought to be a major barrier to the Italian club's attempts to bring him back home.
Benitez accepts that the midfielder is not cut out for a central midfield role in the hurly burly of the Premier League, and he will be quietly allowed to leave.
Ryan Babel is also on the list of players who will be allowed to leave the club, and he is unlikely to command any where near his original fee of £12.5million, while striker David Ngog will also be let go to raise funds.
Nabil El Zhar, Philipp Degen, Fabio Aurelio, Damien Plessis and Diego Cavalieri could all be allowed to leave on free transfers or for negligible fees, while Albert Riera will be ushered out of the club as quickly as possible after his bust-up with the manager, again for a fraction of his original cost.
At least it lessens the chance of him getting injured I suppose, although it would have been nice to see him play with other "gifted" players, and to see whether he could make an impact in important matches. He might have stuck a few lira on his sell on value as well, but never mind.
. I wonder how many 20 million quid footballers the Italians have had over the years who didn't make it into their World Cup squad?
