Federico Chiesa has no plans to leave Liverpool in the January transfer window and is pushing for a place in the starting line-up, according to his agent.
Chiesa has made just four appearances for Liverpool since joining the club from Juventus for £10m plus a further £2.5m in add-ons in August. The 27-year-old has struggled with his fitness and is well down the pecking order for a place in Liverpool's starting XI, with Mohamed Salah playing almost every minute on the right wing.
His absence has led to frequent talk in the Italian media about a return to his homeland in January, with Napoli and Roma said to be interested in his services. Chiesa boasts an impressive record from his time at Juve and Fiorentina from his time in Serie A – but he will not return to Italy.
“Napoli did not negotiate a contract with Liverpool's Chiesa in the winter period and the club has no intention of moving on from the player,” his agent Vali Ramadan told 365scores. “The player will continue at Liverpool and will look for the opportunity to participate in the coming period. That is what I can confirm now.”
Chiesa has played just 18 minutes of Premier League football this season and has been an unused substitute in three of the past five league matches. It seems that he still has a lot of work to do to convince Arne Slot that he is worthy of a starting spot.
“He certainly is [getting stronger]”, Slot said last month after Liverpool's 6-3 win over Tottenham. “You see him on the field now, it means he is getting stronger and better. He had to adapt for a long time.
“I've said it so many times, as expected when you miss team training for so long. And then you go to a competition where the intensity is so high, and to a team that plays with a lot of intensity. He is getting stronger, but he also has a lot of competition on the right wing!”
Earlier this season, Slot spoke about rumors of a move for Chiesa in January. “That didn't cross my mind at all,” he said. “I think the most important thing is that he gets fit again and then we can see where he is.
“I think there were also reports in Italy [on what I said]What I meant about him was that he missed the preparation and in the preparation he was on low intensity sessions because he had to train with three or four players outside the group.
“Going from there to a high-intensity competition, to a high-intensity style of play, is difficult for any player in general, but especially when you have a preseason like this. We knew this before, so we knew we had to be very careful to adapt to his individual needs wherever possible.
“But it's not perfect yet, so we're trying to find the right way to build it up without overloading it. That has been difficult so far, but I have full confidence that it will happen. Let's let him get fit first.”
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