'Fantasy football?' - Fiorentina consider January swoop to rescue Federico Chiesa from Liverpool struggles under Arne Slot

Chiesa signed for Liverpool in the summer of 2024 from Juventus in a cut-price move after he was exiled from the Bianconeri squad by Thiago Motta. What was supposed to be a dream move for both the Italy international and the Reds, has not turned out as well as was hoped. Chiesa has struggled with fitness issues and has only appeared in Arne Slot's side four times and accumulated just 123 minutes of action on the field with the Dutch coach 'not impressed' by the forward.

Chiesa has not settled in England and the Italian has been tipped with a potential return to his homeland in January with Napoli said to be interested. Italian publication FirenzeViola has now reported that Chiesa's former side Fiorentina are considering swooping in to sign the Euro 2020 star on loan in January. The report has suggested that the rumours surrounding La Viola's move for Chiesa are not 'fantasy football' but a real possibility in the winter transfer window.

As per the report, Fiorentina will not face much pushback from Liverpool in case they try to sign Chiesa on loan. However, an issue would arise in regard with Chiesa's massive wages at Anfield, which would not be attainable for La Viola, unless he was willing to take a significant pay cut.

The former Fiorentina star is only likely to rejoin La Viola if the Serie A side can find some sort of arrangement with Liverpool over the distribution of wages. Chiesa is unlikely to play for Slot's side in their clash against Manchester United on January 5.