Federico Chiesa in Liverpool squad for UCL trip to AC Milan

Arne Slot said Federico Chiesa is not yet fit enough to play for Liverpool, despite including the Italian striker in his squad for Tuesday’s Champions League match against AC Milan at San Siro.

Chiesa, 26, joined Liverpool from Juventus for £10m in the final week of the summer transfer window last month – a deal that made him the only reinforcement for Slot’s squad after former manager Jurgen Klopp left the club last season.

Liverpool also signed goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili, but the Georgian international was immediately loaned back to Valencia.

Former Fiorentina player Chiesa has been plagued by a series of serious injuries since helping Italy to Euro 2020 success in 2021, and when he arrived at Anfield he had last played a competitive game in Italy’s Euro 2024 elimination against Switzerland in July.

And Liverpool head coach Slot said that while Chiesa could make his first appearance against Milan, his best hope is a late start from the bench.

“It’s his (Chiesa) first time in our team,” Slot said at his press conference before the match in Milan. “And since I said it’s the first time he’s in the team, it would be a big surprise for him and for everyone if he were to start tomorrow.”

“I don’t think you should expect him to start, but if we need him, he can play a few minutes for the first time tomorrow and that’s something we’ll see.”

“But don’t expect him to be there from the start. He was at Juve, trained alone for a long time and has been with us for a few weeks now.”

“He has had some training time, but it is still too early to play 90 minutes. Hopefully he can play his first minutes in the coming games.”

Despite Chiesa’s recent fitness issues, Slot said he could still have an impact at Liverpool once he is fully fit.

“I always like to bring in quality players and I think he’s a quality player who combines quality with a tremendous work ethic,” Slot said. “The culture of this club and the culture of this team is to work really hard when we don’t have the ball.”

“And I think he brings that to his game, combined with scoring goals and the ability to play multiple positions on offense.”