[20] Aquilani was handed the number 4 shirt, last worn by Sami Hyypiä, who joined Bayer Leverkusen at the end of the 2008–09 season.

[24] Aquilani made his first Premier League start against Wolves on 26 December 2009 and received a standing ovation from the Kop when he was substituted in the 84th minute for Daniel Pacheco.

Aquilani also gained the man of the match award in his next Liverpool league start, against Fulham in a goalless draw at Anfield.

[27] Aquilani also played in Liverpool's last 2 games of the season, a 2–0 defeat at the hands of Chelsea at Anfield[28] and a goalless draw away to Hull City at the KC Stadium.

With the departure of Rafael Benítez in June 2010, new manager Roy Hodgson played him in the pre-season, but stated publicly in mid-August that Aquilani may go back to his native Italy on loan for a full season, where he could gain match fitness through regular appearances.

After that Aquilani played 80 minutes against reigning champions Inter Milan in a goalless draw before he scored his first goal for the club on 17 October in a 4–0 home win against Lecce two weeks later.

He was included in the squad's pre-season tour of Asia and marked his return to the team in a friendly against Guangdong Sunray Cave on 13 July.

[41][42] Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish paid tribute to Aquilani on his departure, stating that the only reason for the loan was an inability to fit the player into the team's preferred formation.

[43] Damien Comolli, Liverpool director of football, said, "I want to pay tribute to the way Alberto has conducted himself during these discussions.

He was included in the squad for Liverpool's pre-season tour of North America and played 45 minutes in the opening match against Toronto FC.

[46] Following the transfer, Aquilani averred that only an excessive price that Liverpool had placed on him had prevented him completing permanent moves to AC Milan and Juventus following his successful loan spells.

In August 2015, he signed with Portuguese club Sporting CP on a three-year contract, reportedly worth €1 million per season.

[53][54] On 25 August 2017 and following his departure from Pescara, Aquilani signed a two-year contract with Spanish La Liga side Las Palmas.

He was then promoted to the U21 team and took part in 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying, but missed out on the final tournament due to injury.

[60] He started Italy's quarter-final match against Spain due to the suspensions of Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso.

[64] In spite of this, the national team manager Marcello Lippi opted not to include him in the 23-man Italian squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

[70] He was an unused member of Italy's 2014 FIFA World Cup squad,[71][72] as the Italians suffered a group-stage elimination.

[74][75][76] His favoured position was that of an offensive-minded central midfielder or box-to-box midfielder, a position known as the "mezz'ala" role, in Italy, which enabled him to make late attacking runs from behind into the penalty area or create space for team-mates with his movement, despite his lack of notable pace or physicality; he was also used on the wing, or even as a wing-back on occasion.

[77][78][79] With the Italy national team, he was also deployed in a different role, as a false-attacking midfielder on occasion, under manager Cesare Prandelli.

[80] Throughout his career, Aquilani drew praise for his vision, creativity, technique, quick incisive passing, which enabled him to dictate the tempo of his team's plays in midfield, and was also noted for his energy and long-range shooting ability with either foot.

[78][83] Despite his talent in his youth, he was often injury prone throughout his career, which limited his playing time and affected his fitness and consistency, and as a result, he has been accused by some in the sport of not living up to his initial potential.

[86] On 26 August 2020, the side successfully defended the Coppa Italia Primavera title, beating Hellas Verona 1–0 in the final.

[87] In 2023, he left Fiorentina's youth system to embark on a career as a first team head coach, taking over at Serie B club SC Pisa.