Aquilani key building block in Juventus restructuring

Alberto Aquilani is eager to put his disappointing year at Liverpool behind him when he plays for Juventus as Serie A starts this weekend.

Aquilani was officially unveiled to the media as a Juventus player yesterday after switching to the Italian side on a one-year loan deal. Aquilani said: "I am very satisfied to have arrived at Juventus, one of the most important clubs in the world. This is an important move in my career and it will be a crucial year for me. My aim is to earn a regular place at Juve and do well with this team.

"I am physically very well and I'm ready to play. The injuries I've had in the past are part of football. There are some players that are more injury-prone than others."

Much was expected from the 26-year-old when he was signed by Liverpool from Roma in a £17m deal last summer. However, injuries limited his playing time and he was unable to establish himself in the starting XI. He made just nine Premier League starts and scored twice in 26 appearances for the Reds.

However, the Juventus sporting director, Giuseppe Marotta, believes Aquilani can do well at the club. "We are extremely happy to have Aquilani with us," he said. "He is an important signing. He is young and he has already played for the national team."

Aquilani is set to make his debut for Juventus in tomorrow's Serie A game at Bari. Also tomorrow Milan kick off their campaign at home to Lecce, while the champions Internazionale start at Bologna on Monday.

The arrival of Aquilani is part of a major restructuring at Juventus, which continued yesterday with the sale of the Brazilian playmaker Diego to Steve McClaren's Wolfsburg for €15.5m (£12.7m), almost €10m less than was paid for him last year.

Juve now look to have lined up the Napoli striker Fabio Quagliarella.