'The second half is even more important' - Arne Slot sets challenge for Federico Chiesa with Italy forward in danger of becoming Liverpool flop

The Italy international swapped Juventus for Liverpool in a £12 million ($15m) deal last summer but he has barely played for Slot's team thus far. The Reds boss hinted that the 27-year-old's lack of a pre-season due to injury has been behind his limited first-team presence but stressed he could feature more in the second half of the campaign as it is "even more important than the first half."

When asked about Chiesa's role in the second half of the season, he told reporters on Friday: "Like I said, every game is a chance for every player to get some playing time. It's not only for him been difficult because of all of the things you just said – I'm not going to say all these things again – in terms of match fitness, it's also that he has to compete with the likes of Cody Gakpo, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Darwin Nunez and Mo Salah. Everybody here knows the numbers Mo Salah brings in; there's not many times a reason to take him out during a game or before a game. Also because he is so fit. I said many times before, he was the fittest player that came in in pre-season and he does everything every single day to keep his match fitness, he wants to play every game. And he shows up every single game. So, it's not only about Federico when we are talking about him being limited in his playing time, it's also about the others. But in terms of Federico, it definitely has to do with the way he came in. I don't know the English words… the rest were already training a lot and we had to bring him up in terms of match fitness. So, it's a combination of reasons why he didn't play that much yet, but let's wait and see in the upcoming weeks and months if he's able to help us, because the second half of the season is even more important than the first half."

Chiesa was once seen as one of the best wingers in the world after helping Italy win Euro 2020 but injuries have curtailed his progress. He has chalked up just 123 minutes of game time for Liverpool so far and that has led to links with a Serie A transfer return. His agent shut down such speculation but if Chiesa continues to be left out, a move could be on the cards eventually.

Chiesa will look to get some much-needed minutes when Liverpool host Accrington Stanley in round three of the FA Cup on Saturday.