Recapping Liverpool’s Notable Italian Players: Balotelli, Aquilani Included, None Became Superstars

Sporting daily La Gazzetta dello Sport has published a special article noting that with Federico Chiesa experiencing the magical charm of Anfield’s “You’ll Never Walk Alone” slogan, Liverpool has welcomed its seventh Italian player in history. So who were the previous six?

Before Chiesa, the last one was Balotelli in 2014, who replaced the Barcelona-bound Suarez. However, he did not leave a glorious mark at Liverpool, scoring only 4 goals in 28 games, and ultimately failed to get more opportunities due to a poor rapport with manager Rodgers. Balotelli’s highlight at Liverpool was his winning goal in the 3-2 match against Tottenham.

Before him was Borini, who played for Liverpool during the 2012-13 and 2014-15 seasons (in between, he was loaned to Sunderland), making 38 appearances and scoring 3 goals, which was not enough to make him a successful transfer, but it made him the Italian with the most appearances for Liverpool. The main issue that plagued him was injuries.

Before him was Aquilani, who joined Liverpool from Roma in the 2009-10 season, playing 26 games for Benitez’s team, scoring 1 goal and providing 6 assists. However, Benitez’s departure left him without trust, and he was not part of successor Hodgson’s plans.

Then there was Dossena, who transferred from Udinese to Liverpool in 2008 and played for the Reds for a year and a half, but his performance was not convincing, failing to win over Fabio Aurelio in competition, also because he never adapted to English culture and food. In his limited playing time, Dossena had some outstanding performances, such as scoring against Real Madrid in the Champions League and scoring against Manchester United in the “Double Red Match.”

Before him was goalkeeper Padelli, who joined Liverpool in January 2007, but as a substitute goalkeeper, he only appeared once, in Liverpool’s match against Charlton in the 06-07 season, conceding 2 goals.

The first Italian player in Liverpool’s history was Gabriel Paletta, who transferred from Banfield to Liverpool in the 2006-07 season, making only 8 appearances. Afterward, he transferred to Boca Juniors, saving his career. This Argentine-born player had not yet obtained an Italian passport when he played for Liverpool, but later successfully acquired one and made 3 appearances for the Italian national team.

In summary, the six Italians who previously played for Liverpool all performed below expectations, hoping that young Chiesa can change this trend and create history.