Federico Chiesa has made it clear to Liverpool that he wants to stay, according to Fabrizio Romano, but a well-connected journalist has revealed that manager Arne Slot and Richard Hughes could still be tempted to sell him before the summer transfer window closes on September 1.
Much was expected of Chiesa when he joined Liverpool from Juventus last season. The Euro 2020 winner with Italy was deemed a bargain signing for Liverpool, with the Premier League giants paying Juventus just £10million (€11.6m, $13.5m) for the winger, with a further £2.5m (€2.9m, $3.4m) in add-ons based primarily on team performance.
However, it turned out to be a nightmare season for Chiesa, with injuries and competition for places limiting the 27-year-old to just 104 minutes in the Premier League and only 107 minutes in the Champions League.
With Chiesa failing to make an impact at Liverpool last season, the future of the winger at Anfield has been thrown into doubt.
TEAMtalk’s transfer correspondent, Fraser Fletcher, reported on July 28 that Chiesa is among the players that Liverpool plan to offload to fund a deal for Newcastle United striker Alexander Isak.
That still remains the case, according to journalist David Lynch, even though transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has said that Chiesa has told Liverpool that he wants to stay despite looking to leave earlier this summer.
Romano said on his YouTube channel: “What happened with Chiesa? As I always told you, Federico was never in a bad relationship with Liverpool, with Arne Slot, with his teammates, with the fans. Chiesa loves Liverpool. He’s very happy about the relationship he has with everyone at the club and with the fans who love him, absolutely love him.
“But Federico Chiesa, around June and July, had this feeling that he had to leave Liverpool if he wanted to go back into the Italian national team, try to reach the World Cup and more. So Chiesa was like, ‘I don’t want to leave, but I have to leave because this is the only opportunity’.
“Then, Luis Diaz leaves. Darwin Nunez leaves. No more winger joining, with Liverpool focusing on Alexander Isak – a striker, not a winger. And so, Chiesa started working very hard, trying to find the focus again. Despite not even being in the squad for the pre-season tour, in the first game of the season in the Premier League, he scores a crucial goal for Liverpool.
“So now, I can confirm to you that Federico Chiesa wants to stay at Liverpool. His agent also informed Liverpool that the desire of the player is to stay, is not to negotiate with Italian clubs anymore, but is to stay at Liverpool, compete and fight for his place.”
Lynch, who specialises in covering Liverpool, told Anfield Index: “I had a conversation yesterday that [suggested] you still can’t rule out that he’ll go.
“What’s being said by people you speak to at Liverpool is that no serious offers have been received for him thus far in the window.
“But, obviously, that does not rule out the possibility of one coming in before the end of the window, there are a couple of weeks left.
“Maybe it’ll be a return to Italy and that will be an attractive option, but if the player says ‘I’m not going,’ then he’s got a contract and Liverpool will have to keep him around.”
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What Federico Chiesa has said about Liverpool future
Chiesa featured for Liverpool in their opening Premier League game of the season against Bournemouth last Friday.
The winger came on as a substitute in the 82nd minute for attacking midfielder Florian Wirtz and scored six minutes later, as the defending Premier League champions beat the Cherries 4-2.
Chiesa told Sky Italia after the game: “A goal always pays off: wherever the coach puts me, I play.
“I had a hard time arriving here because the pace is different: after a year, I’ve had this satisfaction. The coach gave me a chance and always gave me words of encouragement.”
On his future, Chiesa added: “We’ll talk to Liverpool, but I’ll be honest: I’m happy here.
“I play for one of the best teams in the world: I have to wait and be ready like I was tonight.
“I have to prove that I can play for this team. I repeat, the manager has been very good with me in recent months.”
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