Steven Gerrard once claimed a Liverpool player would become ‘the next Xabi Alonso’ – but that prediction turned out to be far off the mark.

Steven Gerrard had high expectations for the player who took over from Xabi Alonso at Liverpool, but the transfer didn’t work out as planned.

Alonso joined Liverpool in 2004 for £10.5 million and, alongside Gerrard, helped the club win the Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and FA Cup. After making 210 appearances, he moved back to Spain in a £30 million deal to Real Madrid, where he played 236 matches and added five more trophies to his achievements.

Liverpool quickly sought to fill the gap left by Alonso by signing Alberto Aquilani as his replacement in midfield. The club paid £18 million for the Italian international, who struggled to adapt to life in Merseyside due to an ankle injury operation he had before joining. Despite this, Gerrard praised Aquilani, comparing him favorably to Alonso.

“He spots a pass, thinks the same way, and controls the game’s pace. I don’t want to jinx it, but he’s very similar to Xabi,” Gerrard told Zoo Magazine in January 2010, according to This Is Anfield. “It will take Alberto some time to reach full fitness because of his injuries, but he’s definitely a talented player.”

Unfortunately, persistent injuries limited Aquilani to just 18 appearances during a season where Liverpool finished seventh in the Premier League. After Rafa Benitez left and Roy Hodgson took over in the summer, Aquilani went back to Italy on loan to Juventus and AC Milan before signing permanently with Fiorentina in 2012.

He later played for Sporting CP, Pescara, Sassuolo, and Las Palmas. After being released from Las Palmas and spending a year without a club, he retired in 2019 at age 35.

Reflecting on his tough time at Liverpool, Aquilani told The Guardian in 2020 that he never focused on comparisons with Alonso. “That was the media’s thing — Liverpool sold Alonso and signed me as his replacement. I never viewed it like that. Xabi was a great player, but I was confident in my own abilities. Also, my style was different—more attack-minded.”

Though he never truly settled in England, Aquilani expressed no regrets about his move at 25 and remembers his time fondly. Now coaching Serie B team Catanzaro, he said, “I was young when I joined Liverpool, and it was a big change for me, but I enjoyed it and made many friends—Torres, Glen Johnson, Dirk Kuyt, Pepe Reina. People might think I wasn’t a good signing or player for Liverpool, but for me, it was a great experience. It’s a year I’ll never forget.”