Yahoo Sport 
Arne Slot has already made Federico Chiesa stance clear as blunt transfer reality obvious
Federico Chiesa continues to be linked with an early exit from Liverpool, although Arne Slot has made it clear he has no intention of giving up on the winger.
It’s been a tough start to life on Merseyside for Chiesa. Having arrived late on in the summer transfer window, he would have to bide his time before making his debut off the bench at AC Milan in the Champions League in September.
Another substitute appearance against Bournemouth and a first start against West Ham in the Carabao Cup followed, but those have proven to be Chiesa’s only appearances of the season so far, with the Italian international having missed the last nine games through injury.
It remains unclear when exactly he may be able to return to action, with Slot admitting the 27-year-old has struggled to get up to speed with his new teammates after being discarded by Juve in pre-season.
Chiesa’s apparent unsettled nature has led to reports in Italy suggesting he could make a return to Serie A in the not-too-distant future. According to Calciomercato, AC Milan, Inter Milan and Roma are all interested in the winger, and are eyeing up loan deals with an option to buy in January.
This isn’t the first time Chiesa has been linked with a swift return to his homeland, with Slot having already made his stance clear on the matter last month.
“That hasn't gone through my mind at all,” he said during a press conference. “I think first and foremost is that he gets fit again, and then we can see where he is.
“There were reports in Italy, what I meant about him was he missed pre-season, and in pre-season he was on low intensity sessions because he had to train with three or four players apart from the group. 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 had a pre-season like this.
“We knew this before, so we knew we had to be really careful and 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, and that has been difficult till now, but I have full confidence that will happen.”
Chiesa’s signing was seen as a no-brainer during the summer, given Liverpool only had to pay $13.3m (£10.1m/€12.0m) with a possible $3.3m (£2.5m/€3.0m) in add-ons. Even with a slightly troubling injury record behind him, it felt like an absolute bargain.
His continued absence though is becoming a worry, and given Slot has already admitted Chiesa has struggled getting up to speed with the intensity after making the move from Italy, you have to wonder how much longer it will take him to find his feet once he is fit.
Of course, he was never going to usurp Mohamed Salah in Liverpool’s attack, but his signing has nevertheless proven to be a disappointment so far. Slot might be keeping the faith, but Chiesa has a lot of work to do if his signing is to prove to be a success.
