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In the summer of 2009, on the eve of a £17m move to Anfield, football folk were queuing up to declare Alberto Aquilani’s greatness.

“He is a good passer, the final ball is good, and he also works. If he can settle down properly in England he can be a very good addition. I think the signing should excite the fans,” said the manager who had just forked out for him, Rafael Benitez.

John Arne Riise, then playing for the Roma side Aquilani had just left, added: “He certainly runs more than Xabi (Alonso) and is probably more dangerous in terms of getting in the box and trying to score goals. Liverpool will be getting a very good player.”

While Italian football legend Francesco Totti declared: “He is potentially one of the best players in the world. He has been unlucky with injuries so far but I believe he will do really well in England.”

This week ‘potentially one of the best players in the world’ was left clubless after Fiorentina allowed his contract to come to a natural end.

And there has been precious little in the six years between that lauded move to Anfield and this week’s Florentine finish to justify the hype.

Aquilani’s Anfield career was miserable.

He arrived in August 2009, with an ankle injury which was clearly more of a problem than the Reds had been led to believe, and did not make his full debut until December.

Anfield was expectant.

A banner was unfurled in the corner of The Kop depicting Il Principino – the Little Prince - as a gladiator.

All before he had even kicked a ball.

But first team appearances were few and far between.

At the end of his first season he amassed a total of just 18 Premier League and eight cup appearances - but six assists in those appearances and a precisely finished shot in a Europa League semi-final against Atletico Madrid hinted at the quality which lay beneath the infrequent appearances.

But Aquilani appeared to lack the physical attributes to allow those qualities to flourish.

He spent a season on loan at Juventus, then another at AC Milan - but neither were sufficiently impressed to meet the asking price of a Liverpool board which wanted its money back.

And that lack of physicality continued to haunt him.

A new Liverpool boss, Roy Hodgson, approached the Aquilani conundrum with an open mind.

But just four minutes into Liverpool’s first friendly of the summer of 2010, on a balmy night in the Swiss tax haven of Zug, alarm bells rang once more.

Picking up possession just near the touchline, Aquilani looked to pick out a pass but was knocked on to the seat of his pants by a robust challenge.

Would he pick himself up and dust himself down? Or would he retreat into his shell?

He was substituted soon after complaining of a knee problem, returned to Melwood for tests and made just one more appearance in a Liverpool shirt - as a substitute in a Europa League qualifier against Rabotnicki.

Liverpool eventually bit the bullet and accepted a huge loss on their investment when they allowed him to join Fiorentina.

And it was in Florence that the Little Prince belatedly found some form and consistency.

He made 25 appearances as Fiorentina finished fourth.

In 2013/14 he appeared in more than three-quarters of La Viola’s matches, including a rare hat-trick against Genoa, and helped fire Fiorentina to the Italian Cup final.

But it still wasn’t enough to convince the Tuscans to extend his career - and at the end of his stint there Fiorentina revealed he had cost the club just 790,000 euros.

If that was good value for Fiorentina, £17m for Liverpool was not.

But Aquilani revealed this week he had no regrets about his Anfield experience.

“I would do it all over again,” he said.

“I’d had a difficult year with Roma and had been out a long time injured. If I could go back in time, maybe I would have done things a little differently contractually.”

A high fee agreed with Juventus during his loan spell there, should the Old Lady wish to make the move permanent, was he says, “A mistake.”

The move to AC Milan also contained contractual difficulties for Aquilani.

If he had made 25 appearances on loan, he was guaranteed a permanent contract.

“It was absurd,” Aquilani said. “I’d already played 18 games by December and only needed seven more in six months.

“Then I picked up an injury and Milan’s general manager Adriano Galliani called me to say they wanted to keep me anyway, but not for such a price.

“It was only a misfortune in one way, because then Fiorentina came along.”

That experience ended this week - when Aquilani enjoyed his 31st birthday.

But the Little Prince is still looking forwards not backwards.

Without a club, he told La Gazzetta dello Sport he believes he could still be part of Italy’s squad for Euro 2016.

“I need a club who believe in me, get me involved and give me satisfaction,” he told the paper.

“I’m convinced that if I find the right situation, I still could play my way into contention for Euro 2016. [Italy coach Antonio] Conte and I have a mutual respect, so why shouldn’t I still believe this?

“I’m serene and have no anxiety. I don’t need a lucrative contract to be happy. I’d rather wait until the right offer that I truly believe in comes along.”

Six years on and Alberto Aquilani is still waiting patiently...