Liverpool fans won’t like what Gennaro Gattuso has reportedly told Federico Chiesa | OneFootball

Gennaro Gattuso has reportedly weighed in with some career advice for Federico Chiesa.

The Italy coach claimed last week that the Liverpool striker declined a call-up to the Azzurri squad for their November internationals, having previously said that the 28-year-old needs to be playing more regularly at club level to be considered for selection.

The forward has been playing more frequently this season than last but remains a backup player rather than a first-choice selection, with his only two starts in the current campaign coming in the Carabao Cup.

Gattuso has advised Chiesa to leave Liverpool

According to Italian outlet Napoli Magazine, the Serie A champions are reportedly pushing to sign Chiesa on an initial loan basis with an option to buy, the latest peddling of a rumour with which we’ve all become bored at this stage.

However, the same report also mentioned that Gattuso has ‘specifially advised’ the Liverpool attacker to return to his homeland in search of more regular game-time, with the 28-year-old said to be approaching a ‘now or never’ phase of his career in terms of playing at a World Cup.

(Photo by Dan Istitene/Getty Images)

Gattuso has had plenty to say already

If indeed the Azzurri boss has told the Reds’ number 14 to come back to Italy and revive his national team fortunes (his most recent cap was in June 2024), that won’t go down well with Arne Slot or the Anfield fan base which adores Chiesa.

Gattuso was a brilliant midfielder in his playing days but also had a reputation for being hot-headed, something he appears to have carried into management with his forthright opinions.

After his team could only finish second in the World Cup qualifying group (they were thrashed 4-1 at home to Norway on Sunday), he complained about the qualification format for European teams, which prompted a strong rebuke from ESPN FC pundits Craig Burley and Shaka Hislop.

Chiesa mightn’t be starting all that regularly for Liverpool, but he’s at a club where he’s loved by the fans and could soon get a prolonged chance to show what he can do, with Mo Salah departing for the Africa Cup of Nations over the festive period.

Also, it’s not as if Gattuso has overlooked the 28-year-old while at Anfield – he’s made it clear that he’d like to have the forward in his squad – so the Italy boss would be wise to sort out his own team’s affairs first rather than weigh in with unsought career advice.

In any case, if the Azzurri fail in the World Cup play-offs for the third time running, the ex-AC Milan midfielder will almost certainly be out of a job in just over four months’ time…

You can watch Slot’s full post-Man City press conference via Empire of the Kop on YouTube: