Messrs Hicks and Gillett, get your chequebooks at the ready!

Football - Liverpool v Arsenal Barclays Premier League

Liverpool are working diligently for Roma midfielder Alberto Aquilani, and they have taken swift action amid reports that Xabi Alonso has handed in a transfer request.

According to Il Messaggero, a Liverpool emissary arrived in the capital on Wednesday night in order to engage the Italian international.

The report suggests the five-time European champions are ready to offer the player a deal as uncertainty over Alonso’s future continues to grow.

The Reds will offer Aquilani a five-year deal, and they are ready to entice Roma into selling by making a €20million offer.

Coach Luciano Spalletti did admit Aquilani could be one of the players on his way out last week, and the club appear eager to cash in. (Goal.com)

Now that Xabi Alonso has handed a transfer request to Rafa surely it’s only a matter of time before he does indeed join Real Madrid, even if they fail to meet the very reasonable valuation by the club Benitez will not want to keep a player who wishes to leave so the gathering news that a ready made replacement is very much on the radar can only be good news I just wish it would resolve itself sooner rather than later!

So the deal to bring the Italian international to Anfield will set the club back just shy of £30m in terms of the money to Roma and the five year deal that every source on the planet is quoting, that’s a lot of cash but markedly less than some teams have paid for players this summer so I guess the club must do what it can to compete on a financial footing with others.

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