Ex-Liverpool man set for first top flight manager job with Serie A side

Former Liverpool man Alberto Aquilani is set to become the new Sassuolo manager.

Fabrizio Romano has reported that a deal for Aquilani to go to the Serie A side is agreed.

Getty

The 41-year-old is currently coaching in Serie B with Catanzaro, who he joined last summer.

He guided them to a fifth-place finish but lost the play-off final to Monza to miss out on promotion to Serie A.

However, he’s done enough to convince the Sassuolo board, and he will get a chance to coach in Italy’s top division.

This will be Aquilani‘s third job as a senior head coach after starting off with Fiorentina’s Under-19s and then moving to Pisa.

He will replace 2006 World Cup winner Fabio Grosso, who has resigned and is set to take the Fiorentina job.

Aquilani’s time at Liverpool

In 2009, Liverpool replaced Xabi Alonso with Aquilani in a costly deal.

The midfielder arrived from Roma in a £20million transfer to work under Rafael Benitez.

Unfortunately, it never quite worked out as he made just 28 appearances for the Reds, with the player injured when he joined and unable to make his debut until October.

Benitez also left in the summer of 2010, which signalled the beginning of the end for Aquilani at Anfield.

In his time with the club, there was only 18 Premier League appearances as the Italian struggled to settle.

Getty

After just one year, he joined Juventus on loan before spending the following season with AC Milan.

And in 2012, he joined Fiorentina permanently in a deal that saw Liverpool bring in less than £2m.

How does he look back at it?

Understandably, the Italian has a mixed view on his time in England.

Speaking to the Liverpool Echo in 2024, he said: “Liverpool was a big change for me.

“I was a player born in Rome. Player for Roma. Supporter of Roma.

“For me, it was very difficult to leave Roma. I had had a lot of chances to move from Roma I remember when I was younger.

“Arsenal and Chelsea gave me big offers but there was never any chance I’d leave Roma.

“What happened was I was injured, I had a big injury. With this injury I cannot improve the situation, I needed surgery and was out for four or five months.

“When my agent told me Liverpool wanted me, for me it was like the years before with Arsenal, Chelsea, Juventus when Roma never sold me.

“But when my agent told me that Roma wanted to sell me, for me it was different. For me, it was impossible to think of changing from Roma to another club, to another country.

“It was impossible, even one year before, but when I understood that that was true then Liverpool, for me, was the best choice.”

“The problem was, I was injured.

“I told Rafa Benitez, ‘Rafa, okay I’ll come, I’m really happy to come, but I am injured’. ‘No problem, we’ll do the deal for five years. Not for five months or five days, for five years so you have recovery’.

“I was very happy to sign that. But I was paid a lot of money. At this time I was a big name for Liverpool, a big transfer, so the people, the journalists, the press, everyone, they expect me to be a big player.

“But the situation was that I was injured and then on the bench for five months.

“It was very, very difficult coming to another club, a new club and a big move, and not playing. Not because I don’t want to play, because I can’t play.

“This was hard and the team was not going good this year. We go out of the Champions League, we go out of the top four. It was not a good situation.

“I signed in early August and didn’t play until late October. Three months, it’s a lot.”