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Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has offered a hint that there could still be a future for Federico Chiesa at Anfield after the Italian forward scored a late winner against Bournemouth.
Coming off the bench with the game level, Chiesa finished nicely into the corner to give Liverpool a much-needed boost before Mohamed Salah capped off the victory with a fourth goal. All summer, though, Chiesa has been linked with an exit, with plenty of interest in the 27-year-old in Serie A.
"As long as he is here, it is definitely at Liverpool and I have no reason to believe it is going to change," Slot said during his post-match press conference. "He had a hard time last season getting his fitness ready and unfortunately for him, he then missed the Asian tour, and Joe Gomez the same.
"We lost Conor Bradley in the end so all my substitutions were related to players who couldn't go 90 minutes. At 2-2, you need a number nine. I brought him in and he delivered.
"That is always positive for your future at the club. The fans sung for him so many times last season and it is very nice for him to give them something in return.
"That is difficult for me to tell you (why supporters have taken to Chiesa so well). Although I am a fan, I am never standing on the Kop and don't come up with these songs.
"The only thing I can come up with is Federico had a great history, was a big player deciding to go from Italy to England, which you don't see that much. I don't know, maybe it is also a nice song to sing, but then I probably don’t give him the credits he deserves."
Chiesa didn't start much under Slot last season but with Liverpool having sold Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz in this window, there is a spot in the attacking line-up up for grabs if last summer's only signing can stay fit.
Jeremie Frimpong is another who can play further forward, but only when Bradley is fit. And Frimpong himself felt a slight issue that saw him get withdrawn in the second half.
"That wasn’t out of luxury," Slot added. "That was because Jeremie felt his hamstring at half-time and made a lot of sprints.
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"He was doing quite well, but the other right full-back, Conor Bradley, is already out with an injury. We don’t want to take the risk of losing another full-back.
"Then you could argue ‘why don’t you play Joe Gomez there?’. But he only had two sessions in pre-season so he wasn’t able to play half an hour, so we started with Wata [Endo].
"Our left full-back, Milos Kerkez, is a player that I think the fans like — because every duel he goes all in! But when you have a yellow card already and you play Semenyo, that’s quite a worry."
Liverpool.com says: Chiesa has quality but the assumption has always been that he would move on. He is now fit, though, and he likes being on Merseyside. It isn't impossible that he stays and plays a role off the bench.
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