Federico Chiesa is expected to be sold this summer after just one season at Liverpool, with it no longer considered a case of needing to acclimatise.
Chiesa is nearing the end of a frustrating first campaign on Merseyside, having started only three of his 12 appearances, scoring two goals and laying on two assists.
There have been bright moments from the sole signing of Arne Slot‘s first transfer window, but he has been routinely overlooked at key points.
Case in point Sunday, when Chiesa dropped out of the matchday squad entirely to accommodate for the returning Trent Alexander-Arnold in the 1-0 win at Leicester.
Speaking after the decision to omit the Italian, journalist David Lynch told Anfield Index the expectation is that Chiesa will be moved on.
“At the end of the day, the manager sees him week in, week out in training and is having a look at him in direct comparison to the likes of Nunez and Jota, and not really liking what he sees,” Lynch, whose work can be read on Substack, explained.
“When that’s the case, and we’re talking about a manager who’s going to win the league at the first attempt here, you’ve probably got to say that you trust his judgement and he’s probably getting this one right.
“I think way too much is being read into that 10, 15 minutes at Wembley. He was very good, but it’s just such a small thing that we’re getting an insight into there.
“Clearly when they’re playing these games in training and they’re all playing together he’s just not reaching the same level as the others.
“When that’s happening you can’t just give him a place in the squad for no reason, you can’t just give him minutes for no reason.
“So it’s a shame it’s not working out, because everything I hear about him behind the scenes is really good in terms of his attitude towards work, doesn’t shirk anything, a brilliant guy around the place who everyone wants to see succeed.
“But you’ve just got to acknowledge that it isn’t going to happen.”
Why journalists aren’t asking Slot about Chiesa
There has been a skepticism around Slot’s use of Chiesa throughout the campaign – as Lynch alluded to with the calls for him to start after his goalscoring cameo in the Carabao Cup final.
But as the journalist continued, he insisted the head coach was never likely to outrightly admit his No. 14 was not up to scratch.
“He’s never going to sit there and say to me ‘this guy isn’t good enough, he isn’t training at the standard the others are, he doesn’t deserve to be in the squad’,” Lynch said.
“He’s never going to say it like that, because Liverpool need to sell him clearly.
“But I think it’s not even reading between the lines, it’s quite obvious what is going on at the moment. He is not training to the standard or playing to the standard of the others around him.
“It’s despite those players having issues, by the way. We talk about Jota’s form and Nunez and Gakpo, and he’s still not getting there.
“You just have to accept it. It’s the decision of a manager who has not got an awful lot wrong this season.”
Chiesa signed a contract through to 2028 when he made his £12.5 million switch from Juventus, with his £120,000-a-week wage among the mid-tier of earners at Liverpool.
He has been regularly linked with a return to Italy throughout this barren season in the Premier League – and it would be no surprise if a loan-to-buy deal was brokered with a Serie A side this summer.
