Liverpool supervisor Arne Slot blamed a scarcity of summer time preparations and the “depth” of the Premier League when explaining the continued absence of Federico Chiesa.
The Italy worldwide was signed from Juventus for an preliminary payment of £10m on the finish of August, lengthy after the conclusion of Liverpool’s pre-season. Chiesa has made only one begin since his summer time arrival, a 5-1 Carabao Cup victory over West Ham United, and has solely been match sufficient to make the bench for 2 Premier League video games.
Slot confirmed that Chiesa would additionally sit out Liverpool‘s Champions League tie away to RB Leipzig on Wednesday evening and revealed his idea as to why the previous Juve star has struggled to maintain full health.
“With Federico, he missed an entire pre-season after which went right into a league the place the depth is perhaps greater than the Italian league,” the boss mentioned. “That makes it troublesome for him to make the step in direction of the depth ranges the remainder of the squad are at.”
The Dutch coach wouldn’t decide to a return date – “it is troublesome to say” – and added: “It is a massive disappointment for him that he is going out and in of the coaching classes on a regular basis.
“I really feel sorry for him however he signed a long-term contract so we’ll see what he brings for us. In the mean time sadly for him he’s not accessible.”
Chiesa was billed as Juve‘s “prototype champion” when Andrea Pirlo oversaw his recruitment in 2020, finally penning a everlasting deal price £34m. The direct winger starred for the Italian champions at Euro 2020 however suffered a debilitating cruciate ligament tear in January 2022.
A slew of accidents have plagued Chiesa over the following years, lacking 120 days resulting from varied health complaints over his final two seasons in Turin. Quite than these current points, Slot has used the Premier League’s heightened depth to elucidate Chiesa’s absence.
