Roy Hodgson has said that Alberto Aquilani could be set to go out on loan back to Italy. The Italian has been plagued by injuries ever since he arrived at Liverpool from Roma and has really never gotten a long run in the team. Rafa bough him in as a replacement for Xabi Alonso but we have not gotten to see his talents yet.

There is no doubting that Aquilani has the ability but maybe he needs some time to get over his injuries and play in a team where he is in the starting lineup every week. Currently at Liverpool, he will not be a regular starter if all the players are fit and thus maybe that is the reason Roy wants to send him out on loan.

I would prefer Aquilani to go out on loan rather than be sold as I still want to see him as a Liverpool player. He has shown us glimpses of what he can do and I have no doubt he can do that consistently for us on a regular basis. I was just thinking that maybe Italian players are not too suited to the English game. There have been players such as Zola, Vialli and Di Matteo who have adopted well to the English game but you do not see too many Italians making their mark in the Premiership and that could be the reason why Aquilani has struggled.

Do you think that it is a good idea for Aquilani to go back to Italy on loan?

You got to love Rafa! Only yesterday he confirmed that Alonso was leaving for Real Madrid and he has straight away lined up Roma’s Aquilani to replace Alonso. I am sure the Aquilani deal was in place some time ago and it is only being made public now. Rafa must have known that Alonso is going and he was only going to let Alonso leave once the Aquilani deal was tied up. Now that is how you work the transfer market. No wonder Rafa wanted full control of the transfers, he seems to know what is going on. I am so glad Rick Parry has left as we still would be trying to tie up the Aquilani deal at this stage.

The official Liverpool website tells us that we have agreed a fee with Roma for Aquilani and all that is left is for a medical to take place some time this week. I am sure it is going to be an intense medical as Aquilani has only just recovered from ankle surgery so we have to make sure he is fit to play. There is no indication on how much we are going to pay for him with some thinking its anything between £17 and £20 million. Either way we should still have change left over from the Alonso £30 million.

We should not expect Aquilani to come in a be the pass master that Alonso was. I do not think there are many players in the game today who can pass the ball as well as Alonso but Aquilani will offer us something a bit different in the middle of the field. What I like about Aquilani is that he has an eye for goal and hopefully he will chip in with a few more goals than Alonso did.

I recall when we signed Dossena last summer and I said that he could become a great player for us as Italy is well known for producing find left backs, but then I ate humble pie as he did not live up to my expectations. So I am not going to gamble and say that Italy have produced great midfielders therefore Aquilani is going to be a star for us. But deep down I really hope he does well.