Shouldn’t Liverpool be scrapping for a Champions League spot as we turn over into the new year? Shouldn’t Arne Slot be sweating for his seat already, having watched Liverpool’s quality and confidence ebb away, ebb away, following the loss of Jurgen Klopp?
Slot doesn’t care a jot about all that. Klopp might have intimated his decision to step down in January, and perhaps that sent the Reds’ rip-roaring campaign into a bit of a spin, but this is a new, incredible iteration of the English outfit.
Look at Liverpool now. Eight points clear of second-placed Nottingham Forest in the Premier League (how about those guys, by the way?) and flawless in the Champions League group phase after six fixtures, Liverpool are thriving. Slot stands a good chance of retaining Anfield’s Carabao Cup title too, with Tottenham Hotspur awaiting in a two-legged semi-final showdown next month.
The superlatives are pouring down like winter rain, but it is Liverpool’s rivals across the continent who are feeling the frost of Slot’s tactics, so interchangeable and dynamic across the park. Of course, the frontline steal most of the headlines – and they have been brilliant.
Liverpool's thriving frontline
Liverpool haven’t always been the fastest starters in matches this term, but opposition enthusiasm is punctured as the frontline, led by the all-consuming Mohamed Salah, claim three more points for the bag.
Salah, Liverpool’s unstoppable talisman, is on course for a campaign of the highest distinction, boasting 37 goal contributions from just 26 matches across all competitions so far.
He’s a machine, though aided greatly through typical partners Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz, both making gains under their Dutch coach this season and racking up respectable tallies of their own.
Mohamed Salah
26 (24)
20
17
Luis Diaz
24 (17)
12
3
Cody Gakpo
27 (16)
11
4
Diogo Jota
15 (9)
6
2
Darwin Nunez
23 (13)
4
3
Federico Chiesa
4 (1)
0
1
But the depth doesn’t stop there. Diogo Jota has battled with customary injuries this season but manages to maintain an invariable degree of potency that makes him a unique and effective asset. Darwin Nunez, conversely, still can’t find his shooting boots but brings energy and tenacity to the table, at least.
Then there’s Federico Chiesa. To call him a black sheep would be unfair, for he is skilled and graceful. However, he’s barely stepped out of the shadows since arriving in the summer as fitness levels elude him.
Federico Chiesa's Liverpool struggles
Chiesa was one of the biggest names in Europe only a few years back, but brutal injury problems have pulled him away from prominence. He recovered form last season, however, catching Liverpool’s eye.
With one year remaining on his Old Lady deal, Liverpool snapped Chiesa up for £12.5m, which is remarkably shrewd for a 27-year-old forward boasting dynamism and quality beyond most of his peers. Injuries, however, played a big part in Juventus’ decision.
Salah’s brilliance has allowed for the right-sided forward’s absence to largely go unnoticed, but given that he’s featured just four times and started once across all competitions as Liverpool head into the new year, it’s not great.
Despite ostensibly recovering from problems at the start of the month that had stunted his 2024/25 campaign, Chiesa remains an enigma on the playing front, with Slot yet to reintroduce him in the Premier League and actually excluding him from two matchday squad.
It’s probably not all that surprising that he is being courted by teams away from the rigorous English division, and FSG might as well take any offers that float their way.
Why Liverpool should sell Federico Chiesa
It may feel like Liverpool’s sporting director Richard Hughes would lose face if he were to sell Chiesa, his sole first-team signing (barring Giorgio Mamardashvili, on loan at Valencia), but actually, Liverpool have probably prepared for such an eventuality.
24/25
4
15
23/24
37
6
22/23
33
23
21/22
18
34
20/21
46
5
In 2024/25, of course, Chiesa has missed several more matches since returning from his damaging setback, but this appears to be of a technical nature, suggesting that he has failed to win Slot over so far. As such, potential suitors are raising their intrigue.
According to Spanish sources, several Italian clubs including AC Milan, Inter Milan and Napoli are considering bringing Chiesa back to his homeland, with the slower-paced Serie A more accommodating of his delicate situation.
The report also claims that the player himself is looking to search for pastures new before his Anfield career has really got going, aware that he’s playing second fiddle to Salah even without fitness being brought into the equation. The Egypt ace is out of contract at the end of the campaign but Liverpool are working on renewing their superstar’s deal.
Liverpool would hardly receive more than a nominal fee for the Italy international, but that’s not the worst thing in the world, especially when considering that he’s taking home one of the club’s biggest salaries at a reported £150k per week.
Given that Salah is Liverpool’s only frontline star to be taking home a heftier pay packet, with, for example, Jota and Nunez on £140k per week and Gakpo earning £120k per week, it’s hard to justify that Chiesa is earning his keep.
Liverpool are at their apex. You can feel it through the buzz of the crowd, the drone of the visitors, whose voluble chanting diminishes as contests drag on, Slot’s men wearing them down like superior athletes in a boxing ring.
The frontline is thriving, and while Salah could perhaps do with an increased role from Chiesa, allowing for the Egyptian’s game-time to be managed a bit better, he’s failed to prove himself thus far.
Hughes welcomed him to the fold after agreeing a nominal fee with Juventus. But Merseyside has given rise to an intensity that is perhaps too much for Chiesa’s brittle bones.
It’s a shame, for he is immensely talented, but it doesn’t look like it will work out, and maybe a young gun like Cherki should be signed as Salah’s understudy in 2025.
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