Liverpool strengthened their attacking options this summer with the signings of Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike. However, one player seeing his standing slip is Federico Chiesa.
The Italian forward has already made an impact this season, scoring the decisive goal against Bournemouth at Anfield. Despite this, his future role under manager Arne Slot remains uncertain.
Chiesa Omitted from Champions League and Italy Squads
Chiesa has played more minutes in Liverpool’s first four Premier League matches than he did during long stretches last season. Yet, he was excluded from the club’s Champions League group stage squad.
Italy coach Gennaro Gattuso has now explained why Chiesa, 27, was also left out of the national team. Speaking at a press conference, as reported by CBS journalist Marco Messina on X, Gattuso said:
“I’ll say it again, we wanted to call him up, but I saw someone who wasn’t 100% sure. For me, you need to be fully motivated when playing games like this. He made me understand and told me that he didn’t feel ready because he needed to get back and improve certain things.”
This reasoning mirrors how Liverpool’s head coach has used him this season. Chiesa has mostly been kept as a substitute option, while newcomers Isak and Ekitike have been preferred in the starting lineup.
