Rodgers open to Aquilani return

Brendan Rodgers has left the door open for a dramatic return to the Liverpool first team for forgotten man Alberto Aquilani.

Liverpool boss will assess his whole squad before the season starts

Brendan Rodgers has left the door open for a return to the Liverpool first team for forgotten man Alberto Aquilani. The Italian arrived in a blaze of publicity in 2009 for a fee of £20m while still recovering from surgery on an ankle injury. But the 28-year-old failed to settle on Merseyside, making just 18 appearances in total for Liverpool - half of which were as a substitute. As a result the talented midfielder has spent the last two seasons on-loan in his homeland of Italy with Juventus and the AC Milan. But Rodgers is willing to wipe the slate clean after he featured in Liverpool's friendly defeat to former club Roma and offer the injury-jinxed midfielder a fresh start at the club. "I need to have a close look at Alberto," said Rodgers. "It's been difficult for him during his time in England, and this is probably the first period where he's felt happy, according to him, and he's working. "I need to assess, and that's what I'm doing at the moment. Come the beginning of the season I hope to have a group that I'd like to go forward with on our journey this season. "I'm assessing all the players, young and senior, at the moment."