Anfield Watch
·11 Mei 2025
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Yahoo sportsAnfield Watch
·11 Mei 2025
Despite the match being effectively meaningless, Federico Chiesa failed to even make the bench when Liverpool took on Arsenal on Sunday.
The Reds were confirmed as Premier League champions when they beat Tottenham at the end of April, so there was little riding on Sunday’s clash at Anfield.
When Liverpool’s position atop the table was cemented, many thought the players who had featured less throughout the campaign may get more of a look in for the final few matches.
This appeared to be the case when the likes of Harvey Elliott and Jarell Quansah received rare starts against Chelsea, but Arne Slot reverted to type somewhat against the Gunners.
Although he only entered the game in the 82nd minute, Chiesa was involved against Chelsea, but the Italian failed to even make the bench against Arsenal.
Other players who have played less under Slot such as Quansah, Conor Bradley and Elliott were in the match day squad or the starting XI, but there was no place for Slot’s only Liverpool signing.
With only 403 minutes to his name, this season can be written off as an unmitigated disaster for Chiesa.
The Italian has managed to mostly avoid the injury issues that have blighted his once promising career for years, but he still hasn’t been able to find a way into Slot’s plans.
It is possible that injury kept the Italian out of action against Arsenal, but it seems a whole lot more likely that Slot simply doesn’t see Chiesa at Liverpool going into next season.
There has been plenty of interest in the 27-year-old since he arrived last summer, with teams in his native Italy being constantly linked, and more recently Tottenham emerging as a contender for his signature.
could even net a profit on a player who has played less than half a game of Premier League football.
If Slot believed that there was a place for Chiesa in his team next season, the meaningless fixtures once the league title has already been secured would be the optimal testing ground to see what the winger can offer.