Liverpool insider Lewis Steele has revealed that Arne Slot “doesn’t like” a Liverpool forward who could “score every week” and he “still wouldn’t play.”
The Reds are in a tough spot at the moment. After winning the Premier League last term, they spent around £450million in the summer and are currently seventh.
The biggest signings came in the final third of the pitch, but Liverpool are being outscored by four sides in the league.
There could be rotation in the attack, but one of the understudies to the big boys, Federico Chiesa, is struggling for minutes.
The winger – Slot’s first signing at Liverpool last summer – has played 150 league minutes this term and 61 in the Champions League.
He has scored twice and assisted once, but Reds insider Steele feels he could be banging goals in and wouldn’t be given more chances.
On a Daily Mail Q&A, he said: “Slot wouldn’t mind me saying it, just doesn’t seem like he trusts him. That’s just a guess that I got because I know when they lost at Plymouth [last season], Slot was furious with Chiesa. He was one of the senior players on that day, and he just didn’t seem to [perform]. A few people have said how frustrated Slot was.
“I just think what Chiesa has to do is to prove to Arne Slot that he deserves a chance because if you lose in every game, you can’t get a game. Then you sort of think that maybe he doesn’t like him at all. It seems to me like Chiesa could come off the bench and score every week. He still wouldn’t play.”
MORE ON LIVERPOOL FROM F365:
* Worst Premier League player at every club in 2025/26: Liverpool’s £125m flop, Arsenal surprise…
* Why Salah, Slot have not ‘moved on’ as Liverpool manager’s latest claim hides ‘major sticking point’
* Big Weekend: Tottenham v Liverpool, Aston Villa, Martin Odegaard, Enzo Maresca
Indeed, Chiesa came on off the bench to score in the first game of the season, but was given only 10 minutes the following game.
After he scored his second goal of the campaign, against Crystal Palace, he didn’t feature at all in the following fixture. The game after that, he assisted, suggesting he could have made an impact in the game between the two.
Chiesa has twice played 90 minutes this term, both in the League Cup, and he assisted two goals in the first of those.
However, in other competitions, the most he has played is 45 minutes, and he is yet to start at all in either of them, despite other attackers, such as Mohamed Salah, struggling for form and being dropped as a result.
READ MORE: Liverpool told not to sign Antoine Semenyo and instead fix ‘problems’ elsewhere
