Italy manager Luciano Spalletti shares what he thinks of Federico Chiesa since joining Liverpool

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Liverpool signed Federico Chiesa this summer in one of the more surprising deals of the transfer window.

The Italian international joined the Reds for £12m from Juventus with Chiesa arriving at Anfield with a big reputation from Serie A having impressed at Euro 2024 with the Azzurri, with Liverpool fans excited about what the winger can bring to the table.

However, the attacker’s playing time has been greatly hindered this season due to a lack of pre-season and from fitness issues carried over from recent years at Juventus, though Arne Slot recently confirmed that Chiesa is back in training for Liverpool.

And Italy manager Luciano Spalletti has now given his verdict on Chiesa’s time at Liverpool.

Luciano Spalletti sees Chiesa improvements despite lack of Liverpool minutes

Speaking to reporters at last night’s Gran Gala del Calcio award show, the former Napoli manager shared how impressed he’s been with Chiesa’s development in regards to his maturity and his professionalism off the pitch.

With Chiesa believed to happy at Liverpool despite making just three appearances in all competitions this season, the winger maturing away from action is perhaps not the biggest surprise, and Spalletti is enjoying what he’s seeing from the winger at Anfield.

READ MORE: Everything to know on Liverpool’s Federico Chiesa from net worth to stats

Spalletti said when asked about the likes of Chiesa and their lack of minutes this season: “They must know how to stay on the pitch because we have lost sight of important players like [Riccardo] Orsolini, [Matteo] Politano and Chiesa. Federico is always monitored if he plays, he has shown us his qualities.

“The solution we have looked for for this national team are those players who can play in those roles. We have two very strong forwards who are constantly growing, [Mateo] Retegui and [Moise] Kean, but Chiesa has shown that he is an element you can count on, he has made progress as a man and as a professional, I found him to have matured a lot.”

Chiesa’s return to fitness will be worth the wait for Liverpool

With just three games played since joining in the summer, Liverpool fans would have perhaps wished that Chiesa was fit enough to feature in more fixtures for the Reds, not like Arne Slot’s side have missed the Italian international.

Yet with the majority of Liverpool fans aware of how good Chiesa has been in the past with the likes of Juventus and the Italy national team, the winger returning to full fitness could be worth the wait heading into 2025.

After all, Chiesa on his day is one of the best attackers in Europe, and Liverpool getting the winger back to this level could be what’s needed to get the Reds over the finishing line to win the Premier League and to compete for the UEFA Champions League.