Federico Chiesa has found chances hard to come by this season but he may have finally found a route to minutes in his homeland.
Daily Mail Sport understands that Italy manager Gennaro Gattuso is very pleased with Chiesa’s start to the season, and is considering calling up the Liverpool forward to the national team for the first time since Euro 2024.
The one-time poster boy of Italian football has had a deluge of injury problems and was cast off by former Juventus manager Thiago Motta last summer, before his £10m switch to Anfield where he became a popular, if little-used, champion of England.
But Chiesa is now in consideration to return to Italy’s squad for next week’s crucial World Cup qualifiers against Estonia and Israel. It seems this plan had taken a hit on Monday when he was omitted from Liverpool’s travelling party to face Galatasaray with what Arne Slot described as a ‘niggle’.
Earlier that day, Liverpool Confidential was told that Chiesa’s absence was not injury related, however, and it sparked uproar in the Reds fanbase due to a perceived lack of trust from Slot. We will take the Liverpool boss at face value, though. It is believed Chiesa’s injury is not serious and he will be fit to travel to Chelsea on Saturday in the Premier League.
Sources in Italy have told Confidential that Gattuso is ‘very pleased’ with Chiesa and has been following his progress extremely closely in the last few weeks, with the 27-year-old having the best minutes-per-goal ratio in the Premier League for those to play more than 60 minutes.
Federico Chiesa has struggled for game time ever since joining Liverpool in the summer of 2024
Italy head coach Gennaro Gattuso (centre, with team coordinator and former goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon) is keen on Chiesa despite the Liverpool forward’s lack of minutes
Chiesa (right) was once the golden boy of Italian football, and has won 51 caps for his country
Chiesa was not initially named in Liverpool’s Champions League squad this season but won a reprieve when Giovanni Leoni was ruled out for the campaign with a serious knee injury. Despite that, and having impressed so far in limited action, Chiesa was left out of the trip to Istanbul.
Gattuso is set to name his Italy squad in the next 24 hours. He is said to be frustrated by how Chiesa is not getting more chances in the Liverpool XI but, overall, the Italy boss is impressed with his attitude and impact this season.
Italy need two victories in this international break to keep their World Cup qualification bid on track. They sit six points behind Norway with a game in hand, with only the group winners getting automatic passage to next year’s tournament in North America.
Italy have failed to qualify for the last two World Cups and have only just one match at the finals – against England in 2014 – since lifting the trophy in Germany 19 years ago. Chiesa has won 51 caps since his debut in 2018, scoring seven goals.
Ekitike injury hope
In other injury news, Liverpool are hopeful that Hugo Ekitike has avoided serious problems after pulling up at Galatasaray on Tuesday.
The £79m striker, who is the Reds’ top scorer this season, is hoping to be fit to travel to Chelsea and his immediate post-match thought was that it is cramp rather than anything more pressing.
But Alisson is set to be out for a bit longer and was not named in the Brazil squad for the upcoming international break.
The No 1 was gesturing with thumbs up to folk as he left RAMS Park on Tuesday night but Liverpool are fearful that they could be without their main goalkeeper for some weeks, with Giorgi Mamardashvili in line to make his Premier League debut on Saturday.
Hugo Ekitike limped off in Istanbul on Tuesday but it is hoped he was only suffering from cramp
Leoni has successful surgery
Injury discussion is becoming quite the theme here, isn’t it?
A brief update on Giovanni Leoni, who tore his anterior cruciate ligament last week against Southampton: the young Italian underwent successful surgery on his knee on Tuesday.
It is still far too early to even discuss a timeframe for his recovery but it would be a huge surprise, according to sources in Italy, if he was to play again this season – and we could even be looking at the back end of 2026 for a return date. Good luck to him.
Why Liverpool should rethink Guehi plan in January
It has been suggested in recent weeks that Liverpool will certainly not sign Marc Guehi in the January transfer window and instead wait until next summer when he is out of contract, as spending money on a quick fix is not in the philosophy.
That is all well and good but what if Virgil van Dijk, say, is to pull his hamstring on February 1? What if Ibrahima Konate’s recent poor form never improves? What if Joe Gomez cannot stay fit, which has been a sad theme of his career?
Signing Guehi in January, therefore, could be the difference between winning the Premier League title or not. They turned down a verbal approach of £20m from Real Madrid for Trent Alexander-Arnold last January, remember, as he would be crucial to their trophy hunt. That was the right call then and signing a defender in the New Year will also be the right call.
Liverpool are insistent that they will not be signing Guehi in January but remember the word in late August was that Alexander Isak would not be signing. Let’s see if they rethink their approach.
Also, those saying that Liverpool are light defensively because of Leoni’s injury are missing the point that, if Guehi was signed on time, Gomez would have probably been given the green light to depart as AC Milan and others circled.
Signing Marc Guehi in January could be crucial to keeping Liverpool’s title charge going
Salah could face TEN-game absence
OK, don’t panic, it’s not quite as it seems… not yet anyway.
But seeing Liverpool play without Mohamed Salah on Tuesday night served as a worrying reminder that he will miss a significant chunk of the season when away at Africa Cup of Nations at the turn of the year.
Looking ahead to the tournament, which starts on December 21, one would imagine the Egyptian to miss three trips to the capital against Tottenham, Fulham and Arsenal plus home games versus Wolves and Leeds.
If Egypt do well, he could also miss scheduled clashes with Burnley and Marseille — not to mention Carabao Cup (the quarter-final and semi-final first leg are in this timeframe) and FA Cup third round.
Without Salah, the Reds looked toothless in attack. It is something they will soon need to get used to. If Egypt get to the final, Salah could miss as many as 10 games if Liverpool do well in other competitions.
Liverpool looked toothless in attack against Galatasaray until Mohamed Salah came on
Salah will be looking to finally add the Africa Cup of Nations to his trophy cabinet after finishing as runner-up in 2017 and 2021 (pictured). This winter’s tournament is in Morocco
Reds sleep like babies… but need wake-up call on the pitch
Lots of fireworks outside Liverpool’s team hotel on Monday night as Galatasaray tried to disrupt the sleep of the English champions.
We are told it did not work at all and they slept just fine… the problem is they didn’t look very awake on the pitch the following evening!
There were no real security worries and it is understood the squad went on a pre-match stroll around the Zorlu Center, an upmarket shopping district in the Besiktas region of the city.
How long are Wright and Danns out for?
Young striker Will Wright has avoided the need for surgery on his medial ligament injury suffered in Liverpool Under 19s game against Atletico Madrid Under 19s a fortnight ago.
The forward, signed to much acclaim from Salford this summer ahead of Arsenal and others, was fearing the worst when he was stretchered off – but it is understood Wright does not need surgery on an inner-knee injury and he is hoping to be fit within two months.
Liverpool are still waiting to hear back on news about the timescale of Jayden Danns’ injury after the striker, who played for the first team last week, limped off holding his hamstring in an Under 21s game on Saturday. Kieran Morrison did not travel to Istanbul for the Youth League game but he is not said to be injured.
Page is loving life
We had a chat with Liverpool Under 21s manager Rob Page when out in Istanbul and the Welshman says he is loving life in his new job.
He said: ‘It is completely different to what I have been used to but I am absolutely loving it. We’ve got great staff here, when you work with young players like we’ve seen today, there’s a great energy every day when you come in.
Rob Page’s young Reds won 2-0 at Galatasaray in the UEFA Youth League, the Under 19 version of the Champions League
‘It is not just this group, it is the 21s group as well. People like Jay Spearing and the staff I have got there, it is an incredible place to work and I am loving it.
‘I knew I wanted a project, I didn’t just want to go back into management, I wanted something that made it exciting for me. And one of the best parts of my coaching career so far was watching the Wales Under 21s, watching them develop as young players
‘And to be given the opportunity to do that at a club like Liverpool was a no-brainer and I am loving it.
‘Because I have been a club manager, it makes it a bit more real for the players as well. When I was a club manager, I wasn’t overwhelmed by the Under 21s league. So for me, it is coming here to Galatasaray, in an environment like this.
‘It’s making sure the players are capable of doing both sides of it for when they are needed to go out on loan.’
Reds poach Millwall man
Liverpool have appointed an Academy Player Care Officer to work alongside Under 9s to Under 14s to help young players – and their families – have the best possible experience.
Craig Heskey, cousin of former Reds striker Emile, joins from Millwall after a recruitment process that began in February.
Marek Szmid, who played for Manchester United’s academy and England Under 17s, has been working in a similar role.
Fan of the week… or century!
Shout out to Liverpool fan Gary Hayes who this week attended his 141st European away trip.
That is (at least) 282 flights, days off work, hotel bookings and the like following the Reds all around the continent… not to mention the almighty amount of money that he must have spent during the time.
It is all worth it for the memories, though, so caps off to Hayes, who has attended more European fixtures than most football clubs themselves.
