Liverpool are on the verge of wrapping up their second signing of the summer and the first player who will be joining the squad immediately. The Reds have agreed £115,000 a week deal to close Federico Chiesa and bring him from Juventus.
The Merseysiders are set to spend an initial fee of just around £10.9m to sign the player from Juventus. That is a stark reduction from the £50.5m that the Old Lady spent to sign the player from Fiorentina in 2022 after having him on loan for a season.
News – Liverpool making moves, prepared to pay release clause to sign La Liga player – Report
As per today’s version of Correire dello Sport [image attached at the end], in 2021, when Chiesa was just coming off that unbelievable Euros campaign, the then-Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp wanted to sign him at all costs.
The Reds were prepared to make him their record signing, ready to offer £84million to Juventus to make it happen. The Old Lady categorically rejected their response by saying: “he is not for sale”.
As fate may have it, Chiesa has found himself moving to Anfield for 1/6th of the price Liverpool were willing to pay back then.
Corriere dello Sport state that Liverpool now have a bargain deal of around £12.6m, including bonuses, accepted.
The report adds that the player’s preferred destination was Barcelona but the failure in negotiations with the Catalan club and the uncertainty meant Chiesa could find himself in a bit of a pickle. This made the 26-year-old agree to a deal with Liverpool.
Chiesa’s threat with joining Liverpool was the fear that he might not be a starter. Mohamed Salah is nailed in for the right-wing role and the Egyptian superstar hardly rotates. On the left, the club have Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo and co.
That said, even if the Italian had moved to his preferred Barcelona, it’s unlikely that he would have been a starter there. Hansi Flick’s team have Raphinha, Ferran Torres, Ansu Fati and Dani Olmo on the left and Lamine Yamal on the right.
Liverpool would know that they are not signing the Chiesa of 2021 and this post-ACL version is different. Regardless, he is a talented player and could prove to be a hit for Arne Slot in the seasons to come.
