Federico Chiesa has been left out of the Italy squad for the third international break of the season, despite regular involvement for Liverpool in recent weeks.
Chiesa was omitted from Gennaro Gattuso’s squads for the September and October breaks as he prioritised his long-term fitness.
“He does not feel at 100 percent and wants to be at 100 percent, that is the truth,” the Italy head coach explained of his forward’s absence for last month’s victories over Estonia and Israel.
But after featuring in five of the six games for Liverpool since those October internationals, Chiesa is still not involved for his country.
Gattuso named his 27-man squad for World Cup qualifiers against Moldova and Norway on Friday afternoon and the 28-year-old again did not feature.
Francesco Pio Esposito (Inter Milan), Moise Kean (Fiorentina), Riccardo Orsolini (Bologna), Matteo Politano (Napoli), Giacomo Raspadori (Atletico Madrid), Mateo Retegui (Al Qadsiah), Gianluca Scamacca (Atalanta) and Mattia Zaccagni (Lazio) are Italy’s attacking options.
That means there are no changes to the forward ranks ahead of two qualifiers of major important as Italy bid for a place in the World Cup qualification playoffs.
Chiesa will instead focus on his fitness over the break along with time away, before returning for a crucial period with Liverpool.
Why Chiesa’s absence could benefit Liverpool
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Tuesday, September 16, 2025: Liverpool's Federico Chiesa during a training session at the AXA Training Centre ahead of the UEFA Champions League match between Liverpool FC and Atlético de Madrid. (Photo by Jessica Hornby/Propaganda)
While Arne Slot would no doubt encourage Chiesa’s call-up and Gattuso arguably should be selecting him on form, a fortnight off could be of great benefit.
That is particularly the case as Liverpool are set to lose Mohamed Salah for at least three games and as many as seven between December and January.
Salah will join the Egypt squad for the Africa Cup of Nations and is already ruled out of the Premier League clashes with Tottenham (Dec 20), Wolves (Dec 27) and Leeds (Jan 1).
He is expected to fly out to Morocco following the visit of Brighton on December 13, and if Egypt go all the way he would also miss the games against Fulham (Jan 4), Arsenal (Jan 8) and Burnley (Jan 17) as well as the FA Cup third round.
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Friday, August 15, 2025: Liverpool's Mohamed Salah celebrates after scoring the fourth goal with teammate Federico Chiesa during the FA Premier League match between Liverpool FC and AFC Bournemouth at Anfield. (Photo by David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)
Slot has already named Jeremie Frimpong as an option to fill in on the right flank during Salah’s absence, but the Dutchman is currently sidelined with a long-term hamstring injury.
Chiesa has been converted to a centre-forward role since joining Liverpool but is a natural on the right and could be viewed as a reliable stand-in.
That is not to overlook his influence from the bench, with two goals and an assist from 157 minutes as a substitute so far this season – one every 52.3 minutes on average.