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Serie A side Lazio are worried about the salary demands that Liverpool winger Federico Chiesa has, despite feeling the fee to buy him is affordable.
The Reds experienced a quiet transfer window in the summer, with Chiesa the only fresh face put at the disposal of Arne Slot.
However, Chiesa has failed to get going in Liverpool colours and has made only three Premier League appearances, with only 25 minutes under his belt.
During the winter transfer window Chiesa was linked with a move back to Italy, but the winger decided to stay at Merseyside and fight for his place.
He was recently backed to make an impact at the club by his father.
It has been suggested that Liverpool could let Chiesa leave in the summer as they want to restructure their forward department with fresh faces.
According to Sky Italia (via Italian outlet Gonfialarete.com), Lazio have their eyes firmly fixed on bringing Chiesa back to Serie A.
It is suggested Liverpool are prepared to loan Chiesa out and also include an option to buy set at €15m in the loan, which Lazio would find acceptable.
Competition Games Minutes
Premier League 3 25
Champions League 3 107
FA Cup 2 135
EFL Cup 2 120
Lazio though are worried about the salary demands which Chiesa would likely need meeting.
The 27-year-old is on a €7m per annum contract with Liverpool, which Lazio would be unlikely to be able to meet.
Liverpool might need to shoulder some of the salary in order to make a loan move to Lazio for Chiesa a realistic prospect.
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INSIDE FUTBOL SAYS:
There is little doubt Federico Chiesa has failed to make an impact at Liverpool this season, but why is that?
Have injuries played their part? Or is he just not good enough to get into Arne Slot’s team on a regular basis?
We still think Chiesa is a quality option to have and Liverpool should refresh their attacking group by offloading Darwin Nunez and possibly Diogo Jota before chopping the Italian.