It’s official. Federico Chiesa is now a Red. The Italian winger has joined Liverpool from Juventus this summer for a fee of around £12.5m. It is one of the bargains of the transfer window that has rather gone under the radar.
With Chiesa now at the club, Arne Slot is spoilt for choice in the wings. The Italian forward gives the Dutch coach a headache due to his ability to play in multiple positions. Thus comes the pressing question: How can Liverpool line up with their new signing in the XI?
News – Liverpool secure £42million signings and end up with over £20.5million profit in summer
Of course, Alisson Becker will start in goal. Their other signing of the summer, Giorgi Mamardahsvili will not join the club until next summer. Caoimhin Kelleher stays but he is unlikely to be able to displace the Brazilian from goal.
Arne Slot’s best defence at the moment looks like this: Trent Alexander-Arnold at the right, Ibrahima Konate and Virgil van Dijk as the centre-back pairing and Andy Robertson from the left.
The likes of Joe Gomez, Conor Bradley, Jarrel Quansah and Kostas Tsimikas provide depth to these positions.
For the holding double pivot role, of the options Slot has, Ryan Gravenberch and Alexis Mac Allister should start when fit. The likes of Wataru Endo and Curtis Jones are also present in the squad to provide depth.
Dominic Szoboszlai is the primary option to start as the #10. If he needs rest, Harvey Elliott and Cody Gakpo can provide cover in this region. From the right, Mohamed Salah is nailed in to start. The Egyptian hardly rotates and only in his absence, which is rare, both Elliott and Chiesa can play there.
From the left, Federico Chiesa could compete with Luis Diaz for the starting berth. The Italian loves to start on the left and cut in. He would provide good competition to the Colombian at Anfield. Diaz often goes missing in a few games and this could help Slot change things up.
Slot primarily has two players for the number nine role – Diogo Jota and Darwin Nunez. If needed, even Chiesa can play here, having done so before in his career.
With a high-quality starter and decent back-up in all positions on the pitch, the Reds have a good team to compete on all fronts. Let’s see if Slot is able to do that in his first season as Liverpool manager.
