With a January move likely, the Federico Chiesa experiment hasn't worked at Liverpool

[p]The striker signed for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/liverpool/lId4TMwf/"]Liverpool[/a] in 2024 and has made 52 appearances in all competitions since then, but has scored only six goals and provided five assists during that time.[/p][infobox id="c5ce5f5a-ccb6-468f-9fce-bb4a330c372a" /][h2]Chiesa has missed more games than he's played[/h2][p]Perhaps more pertinently, [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/chiesa-federico/jHMlMUC4/"]Chiesa[/a][/b] has started only one Premier League game last season; he's made just four 90-minute appearances in total and has missed 69 matches either through injury, illness, not being picked for the matchday squad or being an unused substitute.[/p][p]In terms of cumulative minutes, he's turned out for just 1,191, and when compared to someone like [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/van-dijk-virgil/U59RNqOr/"]Virgil van Dijk[/a], who has accumulated 9,648 in the same time frame, the issue is abundantly clear.[/p][image alt="Federico Chiesa's recent domestic league stats" id="59951d18-e53f-4676-a969-4e09f2bbeec4" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="07c1cd2d-f5e3-4061-a53a-fdf85a481a44" original-width="2160" original-height="2702" /][p]Arguably, that isn't what either the player himself or Liverpool would've wanted when he signed for the Reds for £10 million.[/p][p]Andoni Iraola recently omitted the Italian from the Champions League squad for this season, replicating Arne Slot's decision from 2025/26, and that's clearly not going to sit well with Chiesa, who is trying his best to get his career back on track.[/p][h2]January move likely[/h2][p]It's clearly with that in mind that reports have already started to circulate that he will look to leave the club in January unless they're going to give him a fair crack of the whip.[/p][p]That does seem unlikely at this stage, given that Iraola has acquired both [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/munoz-victor/EBMXXrd3/"]Victor Munoz[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/barcola-bradley/lhGD3RgS/"]Bradley Barcola[/a] for the wide attacking positions, with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/wirtz-florian/0Q5gjImi/"]Florian Wirtz[/a], [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ngumoha-rio/rejpF30d/"]Rio Ngumoha[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gakpo-cody/pWyuBud0/"]Cody Gakpo[/a] all able to play there too.[/p][embed guid="37f38f1e-5f9c-47cc-a48a-a787f488316d" url="https://x.com/FabrizioRomano/status/2063138818631369171?lang=en" social-type="twitter" /][p]In many respects, one can't lay the blame at the door of Slot or Iraola either.[/p][p]Chiesa has only managed to get 20 shots on target out of a total of just 56 attempted - about one per appearance, give or take - and his shot conversion rate is a pathetic 8.93%.[/p][p]Of the 10 big chances created, he only managed to get three of them on target, and just two headers in his entire Anfield career - both off target - is another damning statistic for the player.[/p][h2]Only 676 touches and 349 passes[/h2][p]The Italian has also touched the ball just 676 times, which is almost the worst showing of any Liverpool player since he signed for the club, and to say he's therefore been on the periphery is a huge understatement.[/p][p]It doesn't really get any better for Chiesa when factoring in other aspects of his game.[/p][image alt="Federico Chiesa's recent player ratings" id="6f8bdbbf-9552-42d9-bb0c-1155861697ec" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="21b9420e-d283-4ecf-9eb8-4e5bca0a0aa6" original-width="2160" original-height="2702" /][p]For example, his 349 total passes attempted were among the lowest outputs in the entire squad, whilst his accuracy of 75.36% was also way down on those of his colleagues.[/p][p]Crossing accuracy of 11.43% is the worst of any Liverpool player since Chiesa's debut for the club (just four successful from 35 attempted), with three through balls and one pull-back again symptomatic of the player's abject failure in a Reds shirt.[/p][h2]Serie A switch seems sensible[/h2][p]If there were any redeeming qualities in terms of his defensive capabilities, that might've restored the balance a little, but unfortunately, here too the Italian has been found wanting.[/p][p]Just 62 of 166 one-on-one duels have been successful for Chiesa (37.35% success), along with four of 20 aerial duels and only 41 ball recoveries.[/p][embed guid="31060030-c142-47d7-88c1-d7b85d388881" url="https://x.com/FabrizioRomano/status/2063152407794876668" social-type="twitter" /][p]The only metric that is positive for him, and even then it's marginal, is the player's tackle percentage. Of the 21 he's attempted, Chiesa has won 11 of them but lost 10, giving him a 52.38% success rate.[/p][p]To be fair to the player, Liverpool knew that they were taking a chance on him when they bought him, but no one would have expected things to have gone quite as poorly as they have.[/p][p]There's a small chance that Iraola might give Chiesa a few cursory appearances in the league before January, but it's unlikely to be enough to stop him from seeking his fortune elsewhere.[/p][embed guid="a0b3eab4-cf3f-43d0-85bd-3fdd01c1ddce" url="https://x.com/Flashscorecom/status/1972180240441954777" social-type="twitter" /][p]Given how things have gone to this point, a move back to Serie A would not only be desired, but would be wholeheartedly advisable.[/p][p]If the 28-year-old can then find his shooting boots again and stay free of injury, he's still got plenty of time left in the game to make his mark. It just probably won't be at Liverpool.[/p][infobox id="8a8311c3-81b3-440e-8b49-36091db073d1" /]