Special wonderkid lined up to REPLACE Federico Chiesa

For one man this has been a very frustrating season.

Amid all the excitement that Arne Slot has brought with him during his first campaign at Liverpool manager, Federico Chiesa will be very disappointed by his involvement in the team.

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Sure, the Italian arrived with a handicap in August because he had missed Juventus' pre-season after being frozen out of the club.

By the time he joined Liverpool, he had only trained by himself and with Juventus' reserve team since Euro 2024.

Yet there was excitement about Chiesa's arrival. Liverpool managed to bring him in for a bargain and he served a purpose and a need that the Reds had needed for a while.

Liverpool wanted to add more depth behind Mohamed Salah on the right-wing. Chiesa was seen as someone who could provide that role for the Reds.

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Things did not culminate in that way. From the first moment, Chiesa's arrival was overshadowed by the arrival of Rio Ngumoha - another winger.

The 16-year-old took the spotlight in his first training session with the club, putting on a show for the U21s during a session that Chiesa participated in - after deciding to stay at Liverpool to improve his fitness during the September international break.

Since then, Chiesa has been used sparsely by Slot. He was left out of the squad for Liverpool's trip to Leicester City, despite not having an injury.

There have been moments that have caught the Reds supporters' attention. A goal in the Carabao Cup final against Newcastle United was supposed to overturn his fortunes.

But no significant amount of playing time has been handed to Chiesa since then.

After months of being shunned, it's no obvious Arne Slot simply does not trust the Italian star. The only possibility at this stage if for Chiesa to move on.

There is no point keeping him around the squad to play the fodder minutes that could be handed to Ngumoha instead - who represents the future of Liverpool.

At this stage it's becoming obvious that Ngumoha will take on the Chiesa role at Liverpool next season. Recently, he scored a brace for the U21 side to set-up a play off fixture in the Premier League 2 against Manchester City.

He's averaging 13 dribblers per 90 in the U18 team and at this stage he's simply too good to be playing academy football.

He'll only be 17-years-old next season, so Liverpool will not want to send him out on loan. The best way for him to continue his development is to get the minutes that have been given to Chiesa this season - maybe even more.

Ngumoha's one vs one ability combined with his off the ball work definitely make him more suited to Slot's style of play.

He's been training with the Reds' first team for much of the season so he knows what's expected of him. A good pre-season will help him secure his role in the first team even further.

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But it's obvious in the long-term, Ngumoha will start to phase out Chiesa. That's clearly Liverpool's plans as well, with the club having high hopes for the youngster.