Federico Chiesa has been training with Liverpool’s under-21s as he continues his ad-hoc pre-season following his arrival from Juventus.
The 26-year-old eschewed a call-up to the Italy squad for the September international window to focus on getting himself primed to be ready for action for his new club as early as possible, having not played since June due to being frozen out in Turin prior to his recent transfer.
The Reds’ under-21 boss Barry Lewtas has delivered a glowing appraisal of the Azzurri forward after watching him in training at the first-team’s facilities, citing him as a prime example of the standards required of the academy youngsters to become established at senior level.
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The 43-year-old said of Chiesa (via liverpoolfc.com): “We’ve been coming round here for a while and the first-team players, their level of professionalism is unbelievable, it really is.
“Obviously you can see from the quality of his career so far, this is why he’s at one of the best clubs in the world. His professionalism and his quality was really good. It obviously just gives our boys a little bit of a chance to play against someone of that quality [and] it’s a really good learning opportunity for them.
“I think any time when we come round to the first-team side, which we do a lot, is always really good. It’s a change of scenery but also more importantly gets us around first-team players and first-team staff, which is important for the boys.”
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The various photos and videos published by LFC in recent days showcase Chiesa’s enormous enthusiasm for Liverpool, with his reactions to being presented with a Reds shirt with his name on it, and seeing the club’s vast trophy haul in person, showing a genuine affection for the team that he’s just joined.
The 26-year-old has made nearly 300 senior appearances in his club career and won 51 Italy caps, with his pedigree at the highest level long since proven, and no player would get to rack up such numbers at that stratosphere of football unless they had a special blend of talent and, of course, dedication.
It could happen that someone of his experience would regard training with the under-21s as beneath them, but it’s evident from Lewtas’ testimony that the Italian treated it with the utmost seriousness and respect, conjuring up one particularly brilliant top-corner finish.
Liverpool fans must be buzzing to see not just that quality from Chiesa, but also signs of an exemplary attitude and a burning desire to succeed for his new team.
Let’s hope it won’t be much longer before we witness the latest bearer of the Reds’ number 14 shirt weaving his magic on matchday and giving us plenty of moments to cherish!
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