Alberto Aquilani is looking forward to making his latest return to Serie A this weekend having joined Pescara from Sporting Lisbon, but admits he still harbours regrets about his exit from Liverpool.
Aquilani, 32, has gone back to Italy for the second time in his career from a spell abroad, but this time he feels more comfortable about coming home than he did the first time, when he felt he should have given it more of a chance at Liverpool.
He played just one season with the Reds before joining Juventus on loan. He spent the next season on loan at AC Milan before joining Fiorentina in 2012 and staying with them until moving to Sporting last summer, but he still looks back with disappointment about his time on Merseyside.
"I had a great time with Liverpool and I had the honour of wearing a special shirt and playing in an incredible stadium," Aquilani told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "Then I decided to leave, and perhaps I was a bit hasty.
"Maybe I should have stayed and continued playing in the Premier League, but I wanted to come back to Italy for family reasons. Nobody forced me out."
Aquilani had a similar feeling this summer, and when a phone call from Pescara coach Massimo Oddo arrived, his mind was quickly made up.
"I went to Portugal with the objective of winning the league -- I was convinced about it," Aquilani said. "We had an amazing year with a new points' record, yet we incredibly still finished second, two points behind Benfica.
"It was one of the best experiences I've had at a top club who are maybe underestimated by the rest of Europe. At the end of the season, though, I got the feeling that I might have less of a chance this season so I asked if I could return to Italy.
"It was Oddo who ignited the spark. He called me and really transmitted to me a great motivation, explaining his views on football which are the same as mine. I took this chance of joining Pescara in a flash."
Aquilani is set to add to his 239 Serie A appearances when the Delfini play host to Inter Milan on Sunday evening.