1 day Ago By [email protected] (Isaac Johnson)
Chiesa made his Liverpool debut in Tuesday's Champions League clash against AC Milan when he came on as an injury-time substitute. Liverpool head coach Arne Slot expects Federico Chiesa to earn more game time going forward, acknowledging that the winger “needs minutes” after a disrupted start to the season. The summer signing made his Reds debut against Milan on Tuesday when coming on as a stoppage-time substitute for Mohamed Salah .
Those were his first minutes of the season, having been exiled from the Juventus first-team prior to his £12.5million switch to Anfield before being left out of Italy’s squad for the Nations League internationals earlier this month. He could make his home debut against Bournemotuh on Saturday.
Speaking after the 3-1 midweek win at the San Siro, Slot teased that Chiesa has ramped up his fitness levels during his three weeks at the club. However, he underlined that playing time is not guaranteed given the wealth of attacking options in the squad. Asked by beIN SPORTS whether fans will see more of Chiesa soon, Slot answered: “Yeah I think we will.
We will see more of the players that haven’t played a lot today or in other games in the future soon. “But [Chiesa] gets fitter and fitter. He had a difficult pre-season because he was not always able to train with the first team of Juve, so he had to train a lot on his own.
"Then it takes a bit of time to get your match fitness. It’s getting better and better. He needs playing minutes now, but he has competition from some good wingers as well, so let’s see when we’re going to use him.
“But he’s going to be a big asset for us, a very good player for us, that’s clear. That’s what we knew before we signed him and it’s also what we see on the training ground now.” Speaking to the ECHO, Liverpool legend Mark Lawrenson believes the arrival of Chiesa - who has suffered injuries issues in recent seasons - might be a real coup for his price tag, although tempered: “We don’t know which Chiesa yet.
He’s unbelievably quick and has great ability but I can’t see him getting himself in the team and fit in. “We’ve got six attackers which is great for the manager. Chiesa looks like a bargain but do [Juventus] know something that we don’t? But he’s making all the right noises.
“He won’t have lost skill, whether he has lost pace after his injuries, I don’t know. If he gets it back, we’ve pinched somebody. That competition at the club is the best thing a manager can ever have.
” Mark Lawrenson was speaking courtesy of Freebets.com the home of betting sites ..
