11) Alberto Aquilani – £17.1m from Roma in 2009 – 2/10
The man charged with replacing Xabi Alonso simply didn’t cut the mustard, but the club arguably didn’t give him the chances to, either. We signed him when he was crocked, and because of his price-tag, the Italian was rushed back, but failed to deal with the pace of the Premier League. One season after arriving, in probably one of the most bizarre Liverpool transfers in recent memory – we loaned him to Juventus, but spent £5m on their past-it midfielder Christian Poulsen in return. Aquilani didn’t play for us again, and moved to Fiorentina permanently after two further loan spells. A big waste of money.
