With nearly a week of the January transfer window having elapsed, the future of Federico Chiesa remains a topic of intense speculation.
The forward has been left largely reliant on substitute appearances again this season, making just two Premier League starts in his first 17 months at Anfield, even with Arne Slot’s squad shorn of several other attackers in recent weeks.
Fabrizio Romano claimed on Monday that the 28-year-old’s previous club Juventus had made ‘formal contact’ over a possible return to Turin this month, although James Pearce subsequently indicated (via X) that Merseyside club have had no communication from the Bianconeri to that effect.
What’s the latest on Chiesa’s future?
On Tuesday lunchtime, Sky Sports News issued an update live on air from their colleagues in Italy regarding the latest on Serie A clubs’ interest in Chiesa.
They reported: “Napoli and Juventus are interested in signing the player on loan from Liverpool, according to Sky in Italy. We do understand, though, that Chiesa is highly unlikely to leave the club in this window.
“There have been no formal approaches to Liverpool for Chiesa, either for a loan move or a permanent transfer, and the club would prefer to keep him this month. According to Sky in Italy, Liverpool would only listen to permanent offers for the player.
“He’s got two-and-a-half years left on his contract at Liverpool, but we understand that Napoli and Juventus are interested in signing Chiesa on loan. We do understand from Sky in Italy that Chiesa is highly unlikely to leave the club in this window.”
Chiesa likely to stay put for now, but could he go in the summer?
With Alexander Isak set to be sidelined for at least another couple of months and Mo Salah’s Egypt still involved in the Africa Cup of Nations, Liverpool simply aren’t in a position to be sanctioning an exit for Chiesa this month, even though he’s been restricted to sporadic starts.
It’s likely (and indeed logical) that the Reds want to keep him for at least the remainder of this season, with the situation open for reassessment leading up towards the summer transfer window, when the scope for signing a replacement would be considerably greater.
The 28-year-old may not be hugely fancied by Slot but he’s an immensely popular figure among the fan base, and he showed his value to the team with a goal-saving intervention in stoppage time against Sunderland a month ago when Wilson Isidor looked set to land a last-gasp winner for his side.
Chiesa doesn’t appear to be the kind of player who’d rock the boat and push for an exit from Anfield, although we suspect that privately he’ll be dismayed at how little of a look-in he’s been getting, especially with Liverpool’s attacking options so depleted of late.
The Reds can’t afford to offload him this month, and thankfully that seems unlikely to happen, but so long as he’s left to rely on making the most of substitute appearances, speculation over his future is unfortunately set to continue.