Federico Chiesa is seemingly on his way to Liverpool, with the Juventus forward set to supplement Arne Slot’s already fearsome attacking options.
The 26-year-old has developed an unfortunate reputation as injury-prone, having had a multitude of minor issues since returning from a nine-month layoff owing to a cruciate ligament tear in 2022.
However, Lewis Bower – who provides independent coverage of the Reds’ academy – posted a statistic on X which somewhat debunks the myth that the Italy international will spend more time in the treatment room than on the pitch at Anfield.
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He stated: “Federico Chiesa played more league minutes (2,206) in 2023/24 than: Szoboszlai, Nunez, Gomez, Endo, Robertson, Gakpo, Alexander-Arnold, Konate, Elliott, Jones, Jota, Gravenberch, Tsimikas.”
Federico Chiesa played more league minutes (2206) in 2023/24 than:
Szoboszlai
Nunez
Gomez
Endo
Robertson
Gakpo
Alexander-Arnold
Konate
Elliott
Jones
Jota
Gravenberch
Tsimikas— Lewis Bower (@LewisBower2021) August 28, 2024
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All the players that Bower mentioned are regarded as seasoned first-team options at Liverpool, and although the likes of Harvey Elliott, Curtis Jones, Joe Gomez and Kostas Tsimikas mightn’t be the most regular starters, they’d all have been hoping to play more than 2,000 minutes in a single campaign.
Despite Chiesa’s chequered past when it comes to injuries, he actually missed only six games for Juventus last term for that reason, which suggests that the problems which afflicted him in the past might now be well and truly behind him.
That’s certainly what Reds fans will be hoping if and when he’s unveiled as the newest signing at Anfield, with the 26-year-old unlikely to dislodge any of our current attacking options straight away.
What the Italian will probably do is allow for Mo Salah’s game-time to be managed more than in previous years, along with facilitating greater scope to rotate between our other attackers in the centre-forward and left-wing positions.
While Chiesa’s injury fortunes improved significantly last season, Liverpool’s reached frightening levels as academy youngsters were thrown in at the deep end to keep Jurgen Klopp’s team afloat during the spring.
The hope is that his fitness woes are a thing of the past and that the Reds won’t suffer a recurrence of the squad decimation that we witnessed in February and March of this year.
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