I don't know if it has already been pointed out in the Aquilani/Xabi discussion but since, most probably, there will be the fifa-rule for not having more than 5 strangers on the pitch, aquilani might in the end be the better solution. This rule should be active for the 2010 season. We don't know of course which stranger will be in our swuad by then, but it's clear that the price of italian players will be sky high (just look at inter, they'll need to rebuy their whole squad literally).
But of course, this whole discussion is senseless if aquilani himself wants to stay at roma, and with the performance he's bringing in the NT right now, i really doubt roma will fail to convince him