Slot Hints at Federico Chiesa Debut for Liverpool Against AC Milan
Liverpool’s lone summer signing is expected to make the bench for the first time tonight and Arne Slot is hoping to give him his first minutes in Red.
Liverpool made just one first team signing over the summer for incoming head coach Arne Slot, with Federico Chiesa arriving in the final week of the transfer window from Juventus in a bargain £10M deal as the Reds made a play for a target of opportunity.
Nearly a month later, he’s set to make the bench for the first time as Liverpool kick off their Champions League campaign in Italy taking on AC Milan. At his pre-match press conference, Slot talked a little about what he hopes Chiesa can bring to the team.
“We believe and I think he is a quality player who has talent and an enormous work-rate,” Slot noted. “The culture of this club is working really hard when we don’t have the ball, and I think he brings this to his game in combination with scoring goals.
“He is for the first time in our team selection, and since I said it’s the first time he’s in our team selection, it would be a big surprise if he would start. But he can make a few minutes for the first time tomorrow if we need him. That is something we will see.”
Slot further explained that the long wait to see the club’s summer signing in action was due to the player having been frozen out at Juventus, meaning he didn’t get a proper pre-season before joining the Reds and hasn’t been fully match fit until recently.
Now that he is, though, he will be expected to start seeing minutes, starting tonight in Milan. And with two games a week on queue for the foreseeable future, Chiesa’s talents will be needed if Liverpool’s 2024-25 season is to go down as a successful one.
“For the first time with us and don’t expect him to be there in the starting line-up because he has been with Juve training on his own for a long time,” Slot added. “Now with us it is too early for him to play 90 but hopefully he can play his first minutes.”
Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com
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