Former Juventus player speaks out in support of Federico Chiesa as he struggles for Liverpool minutes

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Federico Chiesa has had a tough first year at Liverpool, with his place in the Italy squad suffering as a result.

The forward has not played for his national team ever since arriving at Anfield in August 2024.

By and large, that has been fair enough. Although Chiesa has become a cult favourite at Liverpool, he has simply not played enough to be under consideration.

Nevertheless, with a World Cup potentially on the horizon for Italy, the 27-year-old is known to be desperate to win his place back.

As Rousing The Kop exclusively revealed in September, Chiesa could leave Liverpool in January and head back to Italy if his nation qualify for next summer’s tournament.

In the meantime, the Reds No. 14 appears to have the support of his countrymen. Former Juventus and Italy teammate Federico Bernardeschi has thrown his weight behind a campaign to get Chiesa back involved with the Azzurri.

Federico Chiesa backed to go to the World Cup

Prior to joining Liverpool, Chiesa was a big player for the Italian national team. Despite his lack of playing time recently, the winger has over 50 caps.

He was also a key man in the Azzurri’s European Championship win in 2021, and there is certainly a place for him in Gennaro Gattuso’s set-up.

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Bernardeschi seems to think so, anyway. Speaking at the Trento Festival this weekend via TuttomercatoWeb, Chiesa’s former Juventus and Fiorentina teammate backed the Liverpool man to win his place back before next summer.

“I truly love Fede like a brother. It’s hard to say, but what he said about me, I said with an open heart. He deserves it, he deserved it, and he will deserve it again,” said the Bologna star.

“He’s an incredibly talented player. I remember his debut against Juve in Turin, with Fiorentina. I told him: ‘Don’t worry, play, you’re great, there’s no need for me to tell you anything else.’

“He already had the weight of his father’s surname, so it was as if he had to leave with an extra 30 kg in his backpack. I didn’t think it was right; it should have been Federico, not his father Enrico. He’s proven himself, and he’ll do it again.

“I think we need such pure talent, which is sometimes criticized. But in the end, talent is talent; it emerges in difficult moments. Like what happened to him last year, but look how he’s emerging. We talk often; he’s on a great team, and if he’s there, it’s because he deserves to be there. Nothing else matters.”

Will Chiesa play enough to earn a World Cup spot?

The only thing really standing in Chiesa’s way of returning to his national team is his lack of minutes at Liverpool.

Gattuso appears to be a fan of him, and confirmed ahead of the October international break that he had even spoken to Chiesa about a potential call-up.

“The Chiesa issue is very simple,” Gattuso said. “I talk to my players a lot, and I want to make that clear, a lot. I speak every week with Fede and he knows what I think of him, but I also have to respect what the player tells me. 

“He does not feel at 100 per cent and wants to be at 100 per cent, that is the truth.”

If Chiesa can get himself fully, fully up to speed over the course of the season, whether that’s at Liverpool or ultimately elsewhere, it does appear likely he’ll be at the World Cup if Italy make it.