Liverpool forward Federico Chiesa trains during the March international break
Liverpool forward Federico Chiesa trains during the March international break
It has been a mixed international break for Liverpool’s stars so far. While Mohamed Salah, Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz and Harvey Elliott have all been on the scoresheet, Alisson Becker, Ibrahima Konate and Ryan Gravenberch were all dealt injury blows.
Wataru Endo has helped Japan become the first team to qualify for next year’s World Cup, while Alexis Mac Allister and Darwin Nunez were even at the heart of a brawl between Argentina and Uruguay.
And that’s without even really considering the results of the matches themselves, with plenty at stake as the UEFA Nations League play-offs got underway and World Cup qualification continued across the globe.
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Indeed, a huge 24 Liverpool players with senior experience (including the out-on-loan Stefan Bajcetic and Lewis Koumas) have been called up for international duty.
Remarkably, once you deduct the injured Joe Gomez, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Conor Bradley and Tyler Morton, only one outfield member of Arne Slot’s squad was not called up for international duty this month - Federico Chiesa.
Admittedly, the Italian being overlooked this month came as no surprise. While he is one of Italy’s star men when available, his limited game-time at Anfield has ensured he hasn’t played for his country since their Euro 2024 exit last summer.
His international manager, Luciano Spalletti, has even gone as far as to brand the forward’s time in England as a ‘failure’ when bemoaning his lack of action at Liverpool.
“Unfortunately, he has failed in England,” he told Italian media last month. “He has only played 25 minutes. He must be more consistent.”
Spaletti had previously urged Chiesa to return to Serie A towards the end of the January transfer window, though the player’s agent had already insisted he would stay put at Liverpool at the start of the month.
Chiesa has made only 11 appearances for Liverpool since his £10m move from Juventus last summer, but only three have come in the Premier League while he has also only started three times.
Consequently, speculation about his future and a possible return to Serie A inevitably continues.
However, his father, former Italy international Enrico Chiesa, has insisted his son is happy at Anfieldand has no regrets about his decision to leave Juventus.
He also backed his son to play a role in the Premier League title run-in, telling Tuttosport newspaper: “He is at a top club that is leading the Premier League and now we hope he can win the title!”
“He is there to have his say and to play, he has a great opportunity.”
It’s curious that such an admission has come after the highlight of Chiesa’s brief Liverpool career to date, having scored off the bench in an eye-catching cameo during the Reds’ disappointing League Cup final defeat to Newcastle United.
Supporters will hope he can now push and help Liverpool clinch their 20th league title, with the Reds 12 points clear of second-placed Arsenal with nine games still to play.
He is putting the work in at least during the international break despite not being called up. In a post shared on his Instagram Story, Chiesa was seen in Liverpool training wear but rather be a lonesome figure at the AXA Training Centre, he was seemingly out on a football pitch in front of a mountain backdrop as he trained in a sunnier climate back in his native Italy.
Since making his return from injury back in December, the forward’s Reds career has had peaks and troughs despite his limited game-time.
He was left out of matchday squads against Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham United at the end of December despite his comeback, before scoring his first goal for the club against Accrington Stanley. However, that appearance came off the bench after suffering from illness earlier in the week.
He then played a part off the bench in Liverpool’s late 2-0 victory away at Brentford, before coming on in victories over Lille and Ipswich Town and playing a part in both goals when starting in the 3-2 defeat away at PSV Eindhoven.
However, he then struggled in the Reds’ shock FA Cup exit at the hands of Plymouth Argyle five weeks ago. Before scoring at Wembley against Newcastle, that loss to the Pilgrims remained his last Liverpool outing. A summer exit appeared inevitable as a result.
In the interim, Darwin Nunez, Diogo Jota and Luis Diaz had all struggled for the Reds while Cody Gakpo was struck down by injury. After the defeat at Wembley, it was pointed out that the former trio had scored between just two goals between them from their combined last 41 appearances.
Nunez has one goal from his last 13 games while Diaz has one goal from 18 outings. Meanwhile, Jota is now on a 10-match scoring drought.
Yet despite Liverpool having up to as many as six substitutes in some games, still Chiesa remained on the bench until desperate circumstances dictated his introduction against Newcastle.
Now the Italian needs to push on rather than suffer another false dawn, with the Reds next in action at home to Everton on Wednesday 2 April.
Some supporters have suggested that it should be time for Slot to turn to Chiesa upfront, given his other options faltering fortunes. Admittedly, such a decision would be a surprise, but as the player’s father pointed out, his son now has an opportunity to stake his claim once more while his future remains up in the air.
Slot, who has been criticised for not making better use of his full squad in recent weeks, previously suggested that Liverpool’s busy schedule has made it harder for the likes of Chiesa to force their way into his thinking.
“That is of course more difficult because these players hardly train with the starters,” he said last month. “If you look at our schedule in the last three or four months, if we play for example on Saturday and then we play on Tuesday again, then on Sunday the ones that played on Saturday, they only do recovery sessions so they are not on the pitch.
“And then it’s the day before the game and it’s maybe 10-15 minutes of tactics where it’s more walking football than playing football so there is hardly ever a moment where they can compete with each other.
“But, the day after the game, I am always outside. My assistant managers have great exercises and the players always show themselves in these moments. So those are moments to show where you are, if you have improved, yes or no, and if you come closer to the players who are starting - and of course when they come in.
“But for the ones who don’t start, it is not an ideal world that we have so many games, that’s completely true.”
Well after hosting Everton, Liverpool have no more midweek games after their disappointing, premature Champions League exit. In theory, following the aforementioned insight from Slot, that could open a door for Chiesa. It is now or never.
Given how his season has panned out, many have assumed he will just leave the Reds when the season comes to an end, departing as a low-risk, low-fee gamble signing that ultimately did not pay off.
Yet it is set to be a busy summer for Liverpool in attack, with Salah out of contract and question marks remaining regarding the futures of Nunez, Diaz and Jota also. It is surely inconceivable that the Reds wave off five of their six senior attacking options.
There will be departures, no doubt, but there are also openings for current stars to stay put too.
If Chiesa wants a future at Anfield, he has to show it. And he seemingly has already taken his first steps to do exactly that back in sunny Italy, still putting in the work after finding himself as the only Liverpool star to suffer a March international snub.