Federico Chiesa has endured a difficult start to life in Liverpool (Image: Getty)
It’s been a season of overwhelming positives for and Liverpool, but the form and fitness of Federico Chiesa has presented some worries for the Dutch manager.
Chiesa was the only addition to the squad during Slot’s first summer transfer window in charge, with the Italian penning a £12.5million move from Juventus.
His arrival had been billed as one of the bargains of the summer, but just 10 appearances and one goal later, Chiesa is .
One of those not sold on his performances for the Premier League champions-elect is Italy boss Luciano Spalletti, who this week criticised Chiesa’s decision to join .
Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the former Serie A winner explained: “Unfortunately, he has failed in England. He has only played 25 minutes,” a reference to Chiesa’s limited game time in the Premier League for this season.
He added: “He must be more consistent. He needs more defensive phase.”
Italy take on Germany in the Nations League semi-finals next month, with Chiesa expected to be left out of the Azzurri squad for the fixtures.
The man who brought him to the club in the first place had been a little bit more sympathetic to his struggles, with Slot urging patience when it comes to the Euro 2020 victor.
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Federico Chiesa has found minutes hard to come by this season (Image: Getty)
Speaking last month, the ex-Feyenoord man explained: “He’s ready for more minutes. If he can play 90 at Champions League, you can play Premier League.
“His main problem is he is competition with Diaz, Gakpo, Nunez, Salah and Jota. They are doing very well as well. A big compliment to him how hard he worked.”
However, since those comments, Chiesa has featured just once for , playing as part of a heavily-rotated Reds XI for their FA Cup defeat away to Plymouth Argyle.
Chiesa failed to register a shot on target or create a chance for his team-mates during the defeat, with his performance blasted by ITV Sport pundit Karen Carney.
She said: “Chiesa, to be honest, I thought was poor.
“All fans, after his injuries and stuff, are probably wanting him to do well but way off the boil today – not good enough.”
Chiesa turned 27 years old in the autumn and signed a contract until 2028 at .
He’s made over 330 senior appearances and has been capped 51 times by Italy but may need to leave Anfield to earn more in the future.