Chiesa will play for Liverpool ‘if needed’ against Milan, but not as a starter

Liverpool coach Arne Slot has confirmed that Italy international Federico Chiesa will play in Tuesday’s Champions League match against Liverpool ‘if needed’, but admitted that he is unlikely to start just yet.

The Liverpool boss sat down for his customary pre-match press conference ahead of the first Champions League outing of the campaign on Monday evening. 

Chiesa joined Liverpool in a €15m move from Juventus on the final day of the summer transfer window, after being told that he was not part of Thiago Motta’s plans for the 2024-25 season.

The 26-year-old was removed from the first-team set-up and spent the majority of the summer training individually. Liverpool provided him with a personalised training programme to get him back up to match fitness.

With such a long interval since his last competitive outing, Chiesa is not expected to start against Milan on Tuesday, but Slot hinted that he could potentially emerge from the bench, but that is still not a guarantee at this stage.

What Slot said about Chiesa ahead of Milan Champions League meeting

“He is with the team and since I said it is the first time he is here, it would be a big surprise if he starts tomorrow. So I don’t think you should expect him to start but he will make some minutes if we needed him,” Slot told the press.

He continued: “He’s had some training time and too early to play 90 mins but hopefully some minutes in the upcoming fixtures.”