Arne Slot reveals Liverpool plan for Federico Chiesa ahead of AC Milan clash in Champions League | OneFootball

Chiesa yet to make first appearance this season after signing from Juventus

Arne Slot has confirmed Federico Chiesa is in contention to make his Liverpool debut against AC Milan.

The Italian was not deemed fit enough to make the squad for the weekend defeat to Nottingham Forest, but he has travelled with his team-mates to Milan for the Reds’ opening Champions League fixture.

Having also not featured for his country over the recent international break, Chiesa is yet to make an appearance this season, after completing a summer move from Juventus for a fee in the region of £10million.

Speaking ahead of Liverpool’s match at the San Siro on Tuesday night, Slot said the 26-year-old is not yet ready to make a first start for his new club, but could play some role off the bench.

"Why we brought him...I bring in quality players and I believe he is,” Slot said.

“Combines quality with work rate and the culture of this club, this team, he brings that with combinations of several positions. 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. But the first time with us, I don't expect him to start with us. He's had some training time and too early to play 90 mins but hopefully some minutes in the upcoming fixtures."

Federico Chiesa has travelled with the Liverpool squad to Milan

Getty Images

Liverpool made a perfect start to life under Slot with three wins before the international break, but they fell to a surprise defeat on Saturday as Nottingham Forest picked up a first win at Anfield since 1969.

The Reds were frustrated by the visitors in what was Slot’s first defeat in 30 matches, stretching back to a Champions League loss to Celtic last year when he was in the Feyenoord dugout.

The Dutchman had named an unchanged Liverpool side for the third match in a row, despite the workload for some players over the international break, but he refused to put the result down to the team selection.

“If rotation would be the reason why you didn't win a game, then last Saturday probably wouldn't be the first game I lost in 2024,” Slot said.

“It's too simple to put this loss on rotation, I think it was because too many players didn't reach their normal level. The playing style of the opponent made it really difficult.

“When you don't win, you try and look at as many possible reasons why, but I preferred to look back at what we did well and what we didn't do well. We could have done a lot better in things that were not related to rotation, but again it's not possible to say what would have happened if I did rotate.

Now I can do something about rotation in the upcoming games but before the weekend they were with the national team. For me this loss didn't have anything to do with rotation, it was the opponent and too many players not bringing what they can bring.”