Liverpool's Chiesa crisis is a mess entirely of Richard Hughes' making | OneFootball

Federico Chiesa’s Liverpool career started badly and went rapidly downhill from there.

A day before the end of the transfer window, the 26-year-old Italian international was signed from Juventus for a fee that could reach £12 million.

For a European champion of proven class, it might well have fallen into the category of ‘opportunistic’ signings spoken about by the Reds’ new sporting director Richard Hughes earlier in the summer.

“When Richard Hughes called me and he said, ‘Do you want to join Liverpool?’ – and the coach called me – I said yes immediately because I know the history of this club, I know what it represents to the fans. So, I’m so happy and I can’t wait to get started,” Chiesa told the club website upon his unveiling.

Chiesa's career going BACKWARDS

With only a year left on his Juve deal, and with the player and club at odds, Chiesa was listed as available and new coach Thiago Motta was content to work without him.

And while it initially seemed that Liverpool might have uncovered a Coutinho-esque moneyball signing, the truth is emerging instead that they have very much had their fingers burned. This looks less like an FSG stroke of genius and more like the irrational, big-name crapshoot that goes on down the East Lancs at Old Trafford.

Chiesa’s career looked like it was in need of rejuvenation. That hasn’t happened. It’s not even accurate to say it’s stagnated. It’s much worse than that. It’s gone backwards.

© IMAGO

Struggling with the pace

The former Fiorentina winger was lacking in match fitness when he signed and was subsequently left out of Luciano Spalletti’s Italy squad for the September fixtures.

And while he has attempted to work his way towards full match sharpness, Chiesa has only played an alarming 78 minutes across only three matches in all competitions since being signed. Chiesa has played only once in the Premier League - for 18 minutes at the end of a blowout against Bournemouth - and has only started one game.

That came against West Ham in the Carabao Cup where he did, in fairness, deliver an assist. But he lasted only 58 minutes and quite literally hasn’t been seen since.

© IMAGO

Slot sounds Chiesa alarm

He’s not cheap either, banking a reported £115,000 a week.

Arne Slot’s words in the pre-game press conference ahead of the Red Bull Leipzig clash in the Champions League should be alarming.

“With Federico it’s a bit more simple; although it’s more difficult, but it’s a bit more simple to explain,” Slot began.

“He missed a complete pre-season, I said this many times, and going to a league where the intensity might even be higher than the Italian league. We just faced the two Italian teams so I can say this now.

“So that makes it difficult for him to make the step towards the intensity levels the rest of the team is at at the moment. That has not so much to do with the Italian league or the Premier League, that has more to do with him missing a complete pre-season and that is so difficult for every player – when the games are constantly there – to build them up towards the levels we are at.

“So, difficult to say, but it’s a big disappointment for him that he is going in and out of the training sessions all the time. I feel sorry for him.

“But he signed a long-term contract so we will see what he brings for us. But at the moment, unfortunately for him he has been one or two times in the team selection and not more than that.”

It’s a big disappointment for him that he is going in and out of the training sessions all the time. I feel sorry for him.

Arne Slot on Federico Chiesa

Hopes fade for Chiesa success

He’s not up to speed and can’t get used to the pace of the game in England. Is that going to get any better? Sadly the record would appear to indicate ‘no’.

“The former Juventus winger is unable to get out of the negative spiral he has been in for several years now,” an opinion article on Calciomercato read earlier this month.

Chiesa is far from the flying winger that enthralled European audiences during Euro 2020. When he recovered from his debilitating knee injury in 2022 he instead became a second striker rather than an outright winger. That pace, that zip is gone from his game, perhaps fatally, and he is no longer as durable as he once was.

"I was not surprised by the sale of Chiesa, who had enormous potential but his continuity put Juventus in a position to consider his sale precisely because Juventus cannot afford moments of stagnation,” renowned agent Antonio Caliendo - who represented David Trezeguet and Roberto Baggio - told Calciomercato this week.

“They must always count 100 percent on everyone, also because they have accustomed us to always being at the top of the table.”

© IMAGO - Federico Chiesa

Richard Hughes' fingerprints all over this transfer

He has fallen out of favour with Spalletti, apparently for good, and media in Italy this week were regarding his Liverpool career as one in ‘crisis’ and one which needs rescuing fast.

There are suggestions that Milan, Inter and Roma would all offer Chiesa an early escape from his Anfield hell as soon as January. The same reports suggest Liverpool are ready to discard Chiesa in the new year and that his adventure with the club already looks over.

If he were to return to Serie A with his tail between his legs, having been unable to get fit nor stay fit, that would be a damning indictment on Hughes, whose fingerprints are all over this transfer.

Liverpool haven’t managed to find the player who was going to lighten the load on Mohamed Salah. Far from it. They’ve actually increased the burden on the Egyptian king.

The only team to come out of all of this looking ‘opportunistic’ are Juventus, who have managed to bag a decent fee for a crocked player and who have managed to remove one of their highest earners from the books.