Federico Chiesa has had to be patient as he strives to make a telling impact for Liverpool, but one Champions League-winning manager has backed him to ‘be a success’ at Anfield.
The Italy international arrived from Juventus five months ago for an initial £10m (plus £2.5m in add-ons), but fitness problems and injury issues have restricted him to 190 minutes on the pitch and only one start under Arne Slot (Transfermarkt).
There were even rumours from his homeland a few weeks ago that the 27-year-old was unhappy on Merseyside and wanted to return to Serie A, but subsequent gestures suggest that such reports are well wide of the mark.
Di Matteo backs Chiesa to succeed at Liverpool
One man who’s firmly backed Chiesa to succeed at Liverpool is Roberto Di Matteo, with the former Chelsea manager giving his views on the forward to GOAL.
The 54-year-old said of the Reds’ number 14: “I definitely think he can be a success. He is one of the best Italian players. His only downfall has been injuries. He has always had a few injuries in his career. If he can get fully fit and stay continuously fit and play games, he is a great player.
“I can see why Liverpool would sign him. It’s a great move, going to Liverpool – a fantastic iconic club, challenges for the Premier League, for the Champions League. But Arne Slot said that he has good competition from the guys ahead of him – Mo Salah, Luis Diaz etc – so it’s not easy to get into the Liverpool team.
“I think he will be an asset for them in the second half of the season. He’s looking better now, he’s played a few games, and he’s a great player if he can stay fit.”
Chiesa could still have a big part to play in Liverpool’s season
That Chiesa has featured so sporadically for Liverpool isn’t down to any lack of quality on his part, but rather an acknowledgement from Slot that the 27-year-old’s workload still needs to be managed carefully due to the fitness problems which have dogged him in recent months.
The Italian has yet to play more than 20 minutes of a Premier League or Champions League match for the Reds, with the bulk of his game-time coming in domestic cups (Transfermarkt), although his cameo off the bench against Lille last week showed that he’s not lacking in confidence when it comes to taking on shooting opportunities.
Also, as Di Matteo rightly references, our number 14 has been unlucky to have such intense competition for places in LFC’s attack, with Salah proving impossible to displace on the right flank.
Hopefully Slot’s conservative management of Chiesa up to now is with a view to the ex-Juventus star being able to steadily contribute more during the second half of the season, and we’d like to think that he’ll get a chance to start against PSV Eindhoven in midweek.
If Liverpool can get the 27-year-old consistently performing to the peak of his ability, he’ll surely have a vital part to play throughout the rest of the current campaign and beyond.
