Federico Chiesa is still yet to break into the regular rotation of players at Liverpool, with one journalist of the belief he was not Arne Slot‘s signing.
Chiesa has been considered fully fit since the turn of the year, but nearing the end of February the Italian’s minutes are still very limited.
He has started two games following a long run of injuries and setbacks – those coming in heavily rotated sides against PSV Eindhoven and Plymouth – while coming off the bench on five more occasions.
In 10 appearances for Liverpool so far he has clocked just 370 minutes on the pitch, despite the likes of Diogo Jota and Cody Gakpo spending time out and Darwin Nunez failing to convince up front.
While part of that could be explain by the impeccable form of Mohamed Salah in his natural role on the right flank, there is a theory that the versatile Chiesa is simply not favoured by Slot.
The Liverpool Echo‘s Paul Gorst argued as much in an interview with The Redmen TV, saying that: “I’m of the opinion that he wasn’t necessarily a Slot signing.
“[I think it was] very much Richard Hughes driving that one because of his contacts and expertise in Italian football, coming in as a cut-price, opportunistic one.”
If true, this certainly fits the brief with regards Slot being in the role of head coach, rather than a manager, which leaves the majority of recruitment work down to Liverpool’s sporting director.
But it is also a concern in that, when it comes to Chiesa, Slot and Hughes’ value of the deal may have been a distance apart.
A £12.5 million signing from Juventus, Chiesa was widely considered a bargain having earned a reputation as one of Europe’s most talented attackers while in Serie A, with Liverpool biding their time to secure a low-cost deal.
He was burdened with long-term injury issues, however, and joined having been frozen out of pre-season training at his former club, prompting a long wait for involvement.
Chiesa has shown in moments that he can thrive in Slot’s system, but there is seemingly a lack of trust when it comes to important occasions – as is seemingly the case for the likes of Harvey Elliott and Wataru Endo who Slot inherited with his squad.
Liverpool can ill afford to fall into those familiar trappings of Brendan Rodgers and the transfer committee again, with the hope being that Gorst’s opinion is just that and not fact.
With the Reds out of the FA Cup and with only must-win games to play between now and the end of the season, it is hard to see Chiesa being involved in a more prominent role until next campaign.
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