Liverpool are ‘cautiously optimistic’ over an initial £12.5 million deal for Juventus winger Federico Chiesa with the Italy international impressed by what he has heard from the Premier League giants.
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The six-time European champions have waited all summer for a major signing. Now, two could arrive within only a few days of each other.
Liverpool confirmed the £29.5 million addition of Giorgi Mamardashvili on Tuesday, although the Anfield faithful will have to be patient as they wait to see a man dubbed Europe’s best goalkeeper by one Georgia legend in action.
Mamardashvili will spend the current campaign on loan at Valencia. HITC, meanwhile, have been told that Liverpool might opt to leave him in Spain beyond 2025 too with current number one Alisson Becker as reliable as ever.
In contrast, Federico Chiesa would be expected to join Arne Slot’s squad immediately should he arrive from Juventus before this week’s deadline.
Juventus forward Federico Chiesa in Liverpool talks
Liverpool sources have informed HITC that there is ‘cautious optimism’ that an agreement can be struck.
Talks with Serie A giants Juventus are continuing, with a deal worth £12.5 million plus add-ons understood to be close at this stage.
Personal terms are not expected to be an issue, Liverpool unlikely to suffer a repeat of that Martin Zubimendi situation.
While Zubimendi never seemed entirely convinced – opting in the end to stay put at boyhood club Real Sociedad – Chiesa has been impressed by the project put forwards to him by sporting director Richard Hughes.
He and his wife – the former Fiorentina ace got married earlier in the summer – are now weighing up whether to leave their Italian home for a fresh start in England’s north west.
While still only 26, Chiesa would arrive at Liverpool with a point to prove.
He has struggled for consistent form and fitness since those devastating displays at the delayed 2021 European Championships introduced Chiesa’s fearsome pace and dynamic ball-carrying skills into the mainstream.
Juve’s number seven did score a respectable ten goals last season, however. And if he can avoid injury while rediscovering the form that made him arguably the stand-out attacker during Italy’s Euro triumph, then Liverpool could be about to seal one of the summer’s best bargains for an up front fee of just 15 million euros.
Italy ace has been dubbed a future Ballon D’or winner
“In the European Championships, he was unbelievable. In the final match with England, it was impossible to stop him,” Azzurri legend Gianluigi Buffon said in the midst of Chiesa’s ‘annus mirabilis’.
“After a season at Juve with Federico (his performances) are no longer a surprise for me, but it was not obvious that he would be able to play at such a high level in a tournament like the European Championship.
“If you do those things at such a high level, then it means that you are really special.”
Another Juve icon – Alessio Tacchinardi – also drew comparisons with Pavel Nedved while suggesting that Chiesa could follow in the Czech hero’s footsteps by claiming the Ballon D’Or.
“I’ve heard talk about him winning the Ballon d’Or in three or four years. I agree (he can),” Tacchinardi told Tuttosport back in 2021. “I see the same (skills) Pavel Nedved had. (Chiesa) has enormous qualities. He dribbles left and right and can shoot with very little space.
“He touched the border of the top players.”
Three years on, Chiesa is further away than ever from the Ballon D’Or reckoning. But a move to Liverpool could be the fresh start he needs to jump-start his career.
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