‘No truth’ – Liverpool journalist emphatically shuts down rumoured January transfer

A top Liverpool reporter has shut down mounting speculation the Reds will admit defeat by selling Federico Chiesa in January, with the club’s true intentions regarding the Italian revealed instead.

Liverpool made just two first-team signings last summer – Giorgi Mamardashvili and Federico Chiesa. The former was quickly loaned back to Valencia, while Chiesa has been dogged by all too familiar injuries issues since arriving at Anfield.

His continued unavailability has prompted speculation Liverpool and perhaps Chiesa too are ready to end their relationship after just six uneventful months. Indeed, InterLive were the latest to chime in when claiming Chiesa’s agent was already in talks over a January transfer with both Inter Milan and Roma.

But when responding to two questions about Chiesa in a Q&A for The Athletic, Liverpool expert James Pearce insisted the Italian will not be on the move in January. Pearce also revealed Liverpool are effectively giving Chiesa a “mini pre-season” in order to accelerate his adaptation to the higher intensity Premier League football provides.

Pearce was asked the following questions: 1) ‘Any news on Chiesa’s injury? Is there a good reason Juventus let him go so cheap?’ 2) ‘Any substance to the rumours Chiesa could be moved on in January?’

The Reds reporter replied: “It’s been a massively frustrating start for Chiesa. He has only played 78 minutes (with just 19 minutes in the Premier League and Champions League) and the excitement generated by his signing in August has evaporated.

“Liverpool are basically giving him a mini pre-season in the hope that he can build up his fitness levels. It’s about handling the intensity of the training.

“It’s too soon to write off Chiesa and there’s no truth in the rumours that Liverpool are already thinking about offloading him.

“He played 37 times for Juventus last season, so it’s not like he arrived at Anfield after an injury-plagued campaign. He was cheap at £10million because he was down to the final year of his contract and they wanted him off the wage bill.”

READ MORE: The key contract details of every Liverpool first-team player: Expiry dates, weekly wages, agents…

When will Chiesa play again?

When providing a status update on Chiesa prior to the international break, manager Arne Slot suggested there’s light at the end of the tunnel.

“I would not use the word concern but it is far from ideal for him and us,” Slot said (as quoted by Sports Illustrated).

“Because with the injury of Dioga (Jota) we have four attackers available, so this could have been a great moment for him to get more playing time.

“It is difficult for a player who missed out on pre-season and playing pre-season games and training sessions. You have to give a player more time to get to the intensity levels.

“It is a difficult balance to get him where we want but we are trying and he is trying everything he can to get to these levels.

“Once he is at that physical level we will benefit from having him.

“At this moment we expect him back during the international break and then he should be with us after the international break normally.”

Liverpool’s first fixture after the international break is an away trip to Southampton on Sunday, November 24.

The Reds then face a difficult four-game stretch when squaring off against Real Madrid (Champions League), Manchester City and Newcastle before travelling to Goodison Park for the season’s first Merseyside derby with Everton.

Latest Liverpool news – Zubimendi back in focus

In other news, Jamie Carragher has urged Liverpool to swallow their pride and make a second attempt to sign Martin Zubimendi. That’s after the Spaniard rejected Liverpool’s advances last summer.

“Do it,” declared Carragher on the Stick to Football podcast. ” Zubimendi is the player he wanted, they ended up putting [Ryan] Gravenberch there who has been fantastic, but if he is the player you want – go and do it – you might never be in this position.”

Elsewhere, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has confirmed Liverpool remain “big fans” of Zubimendi. However, Arne Slot isn’t the only manager full of admiration for the player, with Mikel Arteta and Xabi Alonso smitten with the Real Sociedad man too.

“What I want to tell you today is that Liverpool are still monitoring Martin Zubimendi on a constant basis,” Romano told his YouTube channel.

“It’s also true that there are two managers who are big fans of Zubimendi, apart from we know Liverpool and Arne Slot, what they already did last summer and they remain interested and keep monitoring the player. Mikel Arteta also appreciates Zubimendi and also Xabi Alonso.”

The Independent recently claimed Arsenal could look to sign Zubimendi next summer. Amid growing speculation Alonso will succeed Carlo Ancelotti at The Bernabeu, Real Madrid could also emerge as a genuine contender for the midfield maestro next year.

Chiesa’s lack of availability laid bare

So far at Liverpool, Chiesa has only featured in just 5.1% of the minutes Liverpool have played this season – completing just 1.8% of the time he could have featured in the Premier League and a woeful 0.3% of their UCL games.

He’s fared slightly better in the Carabao Cup and it is in that competition where he has featured the most so far.