Federico Chiesa's agent responds to early Liverpool exit claims - 'This is what I can confirm'

Federico Chiesa has no intention of leaving Liverpool in the January transfer window and is pushing for a place in the starting line-up, according to his agent.

Chiesa has made just four appearances for Liverpool since joining the club for £10million plus a further £2.5m in add-ons from Juventus in August. The 27-year-old has struggled for fitness and is way down the pecking order for a place in the Liverpool starting XI, with Mohamed Salah playing almost every minute on the right wing.

His absence has led to frequent talk in the Italian media of a January move back to his home country, with Napoli and Roma said to be interested in his services. Chiesa boasts an impressive record from his time with Juve and Fiorentina from his time in Serie A – but he won’t be heading back to Italy.

“Napoli did not negotiate a contract with Chiesa from Liverpool in the winter period, and the club has no intention of dispensing with the player,” his agent Vali Ramadan told 365scores. “The player is continuing with Liverpool and is seeking the opportunity to participate in the coming period. This is what I can confirm now.”

Chiesa has played just 18 minutes of football in the Premier League this season and has been an unused substitute in three of the past five league matches. It seems he still has plenty of work to do to convince Arne Slot that he is worthy of a starting berth.

“He definitely is [getting stronger],” Slot said last month following Liverpool's 6-3 win over Tottenham. “You see him on the pitch now, it means he’s getting stronger and better. He had to adapt for quite a long time.

“I’ve said so many times, as expected if you miss team training sessions for so long. And then you go to a league where the intensity is so high as well, and to a team who plays with a lot of intensity. He is getting stronger, but he’s also facing a lot of competition in the right wing position!”

Image: Visionhaus/Getty Images) Visionhaus/Getty Images)

Speaking earlier in the season, Slot addressed rumours of a move for Chiesa in January. “That hasn’t gone through my mind at all,” he said. “I think the first and foremost is he gets fit again and then we can see where he is.

“I think there were also reports in Italy [on what I said], what I meant about him was that he missed pre-season and in pre-season that he was on low-intensity sessions, because he had to train with three or four players apart from the group.

“Then going from there to a high-intensity league, to a high-intensity playing style, is difficult in general for every player, but especially if you have a pre-season like this. We knew this before, so we knew we had to be really careful to adjust where we could to his individual needs.

“But it hasn’t been perfect yet, so we’re trying to find the right way of building him up without overloading him. That has been difficult until now, but I have full confidence that will happen. Let’s let him first be fit.”

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