Federico Chiesa injury was INEVITABLE, but Liverpool fans shouldn't worry

Federico Chiesa’s signing this summer for £10 million from Juventus seemed an absolute steal. 

The 26-year-old was added to Liverpool’s already powerful attacking line-up, seemingly as a replacement for Mohamed Salah if he is to leave the Reds next summer following his ongoing contract issues. 

The forward was nothing short of sensational during the European Championships in 2021 in which his Italy side won the competition. 

Read more: Liverpool star confirms why Jurgen Klopp exit was needed 

The future looked incredibly bright for Chiesa, however a damaging ACL injury in 2022 against Roma caused the player to be sidelined for over 10 months. 

After this major injury, his last fitness scare was a short period between December and January last year and since then, there have been no issues. 

However, it was reported today by Arne Slot that he will not be available for the Champions League clash against Bologna tomorrow following ‘some problems.’ But this should not worry Reds supporters. 

Federico Chiesa injury cause for concern?

Chiesa was not spotted in training this afternoon along with Diogo Jota, raising doubts about his fitness. 

Slot then confirmed these worries in his pre-match press conference stating ‘I am not expecting him tomorrow.’ 

This will frustrate Liverpool supporters. Chiesa has only briefly shown his talent having only made three appearances this season, with two of those being from the bench. 

There is a feeling that the Italian becomes injured too easily and that this could signal long-term issues, putting into question the whole signing in the first place. 

However, this injury was inevitable. Chiesa's pre-season was limited at Juventus as they did not have him in training with the squad. Director Cristiano Giuntoli put it plainly, saying he was ‘no longer part of our project.’ 

Therefore, an injury was going to be likely. If he hasn’t properly trained, a sudden jump into intense training at Liverpool always opened up the possibility of an injury issue. However, this shouldn’t be cause for major concern. 

His cruciate ligament injury a couple of years ago was a complete outlier. This was a freak accident and one that couldn't have been avoided. But it seems the memory of this injury haunts Chiesa and is at the forefront of fans' minds.

But injuries happen to all players, after all. Because of Chiesa’s record, this has been blown way out of proportion.  Slot will be hoping the issue is minor and the Italian will be available after the international break in three weeks' time.

All signs certainly point to that.