Federico Chiesa is now a Premier League champion. But Liverpool’s only signing of last summer will not be satisfied with the opportunities he has been given, and Arne Slot has now sent him a message.
As things stand, Chiesa is not technically even guaranteed a Premier League winner’s medal. Liverpool can distribute the honors as it sees fit, so in reality the Italian is all but assured one, but he remains one game off the five-match threshold to automatically qualify.
Even that doesn’t quite tell the story of how little Slot has used him. With Mohamed Salah in the form of his life, Chiesa has played just 33 minutes across those four appearances.
The 27-year-old is expected to have offers to return to Italy in the summer. More recently, he has emerged as a transfer target for Jose Mourinho at Fenerbahce.
But Slot has hinted that Chiesa may at least get some chances in what remains of the season. He has revealed that the lineups for the remainder of the campaign will have a different look:
“My lineups will be different to the ones we’ve had mostly during the last 10 months,” Slot said at a pre-Chelsea press conference. “We’re not going to change everyone, but there will be a few players that come into the team, there will be a certain rotation in the upcoming games.
“That’s not to say we’re going to lose them! We have a lot of trust in the players who are going to play now as well.
“Some of them deserve to play already earlier this season, because they’ve trained so well, they are good enough to play for this club, but I mainly chose the same players. This is also a moment to see where they are, looking towards next season maybe, but definitely also because they deserve to play this season.”
(Image: Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images)
Chiesa is surely one of the players within that group. And while Slot has not committed to sweeping changes, he has suggested that chances will be a little easier to come by.
The comment about having half an eye on next season is also potentially promising for Chiesa. With a full pre-season behind him, perhaps he will be able to make something of his Anfield career if he stays, especially if he can leave an impression in the last four games of this campaign.
In fact, Slot was asked specifically about Chiesa and Harvey Elliott a little later on. He reaffirmed that he rates the duo, although the message remained a little cryptic.
“I don’t think they have anything to prove to me, becuase I see them every single day on the training ground, and I’ve seen them playing for us in the past or this season — Federico not in the past, but he has had a great career at other clubs as well,” Slot explained. “So I don’t think these players have to prove the quality players they are.
“I think they want to prove for themselves that they are good enough to play for us, and I already know that they are, and probably they themselves know this as well. So no, I don’t think they have a point to prove, but I do think they would like to play.
“But as I said, it’s not now that all the ones who have played all the games are not going to play anymore, and all the others are going to play now. I did this once before, Plymouth away, and I got quite a lot of criticism from you, didn’t I!”
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In one breath, Slot is extending Chiesa an olive branch. But in the next, he is referencing Plymouth.
That was one of just two 90-minute outings Chiesa has had for Liverpool. It ended in a 1-0 aberration, significantly harming his case for further game time.
And despite Slot committing to some degree of rotation, Chiesa still has the problem of Salah. The Egyptian will have no interest in sitting on the bench, with records still to chase down.
Obviously, that call ultimately rests with Slot. But he will surely feel that Salah has earned the chance to try and make history.
Even so, Chiesa will probably listen to his manager’s comments and feel cautiously optimistic. There’s every chance that he could get more minutes now than he has all season, offering faint hope of a belated lift-off to his Liverpool career.
