Inter Milan’s raid on Liverpool’s squad this summer may not have ended when Curtis Jones completed his move to the San Siro.
The Nerazzurri’s business with Anfield, it seems, is far from finished.
Jones’s departure from Liverpool followed months of negotiation, with Inter having initially seen offers of €25 million and €32 million knocked back before finally agreeing a deal closer to Liverpool’s €40 million valuation.
The academy graduate’s move to Serie A represented one of the more significant departures of Liverpool’s summer, closing the book on a 16-year association with the club.
Now, according to reports from L’Interista, Cristian Chivu’s side are eyeing a return to Anfield for a second major name, this time on the opposite flank of the squad.
According to L’Interista, Inter’s pursuit of a fifth attacking option, one capable of playing wide and beating his man in one-on-one situations, has not faded despite an unsuccessful summer window on that front.
Reports throughout August suggested the Nerazzurri wanted precisely this profile of player, and Federico Chiesa’s name was mentioned even then.
Should Inter offload a squad member in January, creating the space and budget required, the Italian champions could move for the 28-year-old.
The player’s own situation makes the fit particularly compelling.
L’Interista report that Chiesa would like to return to Italy and would be open to a move to Inter, despite his previous connections to rivals Juventus.
For a player who has struggled badly for game time at Liverpool, the appeal of a genuine return to competitive football is obvious.
Chiesa is yet to play a single minute for Liverpool this season.
He missed pre-season entirely through fitness problems, and as a direct consequence was excluded from Italy’s most recent national team call-ups, a considerable blow for a player who was a European Championship winner with the Azzurri.
Even when fully fit last season, he was rarely used by Arne Slot, and there is little evidence so far that Andoni Iraola’s approach will differ.
Chiesa has operated as a wing-back in the past, a profile that suits Inter’s 3-5-2 system perfectly, while his time at Fiorentina and Juventus saw him regularly deployed in a front two, contributing goals consistently in both roles.
Combined with Inter’s heavy fixture schedule across Serie A and the Champions League, regular football at the San Siro could be exactly what is needed to revive a career that has stalled dramatically on Merseyside.
Liverpool sold one academy product to Inter this summer.
In January, they may find themselves negotiating over a very different kind of asset entirely.
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