I wasn’t happy at Liverpool – it was an opportunity I couldn’t turn down but I ended up cold, fed up and alone

According to liverpoolecho, if I told you that Liverpool were interested in signing a player who had played a starring role alongside Lionel Messi and Sergio Aguero for the Argentina team that won the 2005 FIFA U20 World Cup, was a FIFA Club World Cup runner-up at 21, played at a World Cup, and enjoyed seven-and-a-half successful years in Serie A, most notably with AC Milan, you might have been excited.

Interestingly, Rafa Benitez signed such a guy for Liverpool. With that resume, he would have been one of the Spaniard’s greatest at Anfield? After learning he scored on his Liverpool debut in 2006?

Unfortunately, no. The guilty footballer left Merseyside after one season, making just eight appearances and hating his choice to join to Anfield.

What went wrong for the Argentine under Benitez after being bought by Liverpool in 2006 and enjoying a decent career?

The defender first caught the Reds’ attention after starting all seven of Argentina’s games in the 2005 FIFA U20 World Cup and an impressive season with Club Atletico Banfield, where the Argentines even included him in their Copa Libertadores knockout stage squad.

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Liverpool signed Paletta for £2m on February 14, 2006, after strong competition for his signature. He signed a four-year contract and joined his new teammates in time for the 2006/07 season.

Described by the Reds as a “strong, decisive and robust defender”, Benitez wasted no time in talking up his latest signing and compared him to some of the Spaniard’s most high-profile defenders following his arrival at Anfield.

“Paletta is very tough and he’s exactly the sort of player we need who will suit The Premiership,” he told the club’s official website. “When you talk about the Argentinian defenders I worked with in Valencia, Paletta is more like Ayala than Pellegrino.

“If you’re talking about Liverpool, he’s more like Carragher than Sami Hyypia. This is good because we will have a balance in the style of defenders.

“He is a defender with a lot of aggression and we’re sure he has a great future. He will learn a lot here, like Daniel Agger, and provide competitiveness in our defence.