Federico Chiesa will miss his fourth consecutive game when Liverpool play Leipzig, and Arne Slot has offered an explanation for the forward’s continued absence.
The Italian arrived at the club after being pushed to the side by Juventus, meaning he was not at the level of conditioning to sustain an intense run in Liverpool’s squad.
Slot has been quick to mention that he would require a transition period, but a fitness issue after the Wolves game has meant he has been all but a ghost to supporters in the weeks since.
Having failed to resurface ahead of the trip to Leipzig, Slot was asked to offer an update about Chiesa – whose injury was first claimed by reporters to be ‘minor’.
Slot, though, was giving little away with his update in his pre-Leipzig press conference. “With Federico, although it is a bit more difficult, it is a bit more simple to explain,” Slot started.
“He missed a complete pre-season, I’ve said this many times.
“And going to a league where the intensity may be higher than the Italian league, that makes it difficult for him to make the step towards the intensity levels the rest of the team is at.
“That has not so much to do with the Italian league or Premier League but has more to do with him missing a complete pre-season.
“Then it is so difficult for every player to, when the games are constantly there, to build them up towards the levels we are at.
“So, difficult to say, but it is a big disappointment for him that he is going in and out of the training sessions all of the time.
“Feel sorry for him, but he’s signed a long-term contract so we will see what he brings for us.
“But at the moment, unfortunately for him, he’s been with us one or two times in team selection and not more than that.”
Since signing for the club at the end of August, Chiesa has featured three times for a total of 78 minutes across three successive games. He was last in a matchday squad at Wolves.
When announcing this setback on October 1, Slot said: “I’m not expecting him to be out for a very long period of time.” Sadly, it looks like that may just be the case.
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