Juventus' Federico Chiesa transfer demand should ring alarm bells for Liverpool

Italy international Federico Chiesa is reportedly being targeted by Juventus just a year-and-a-half after leaving the Turin club to join Premier League team Liverpool

Federico Chiesa is attracting interest from former club Juventus(Image: 2026 Getty Images)

Federico Chiesa has been linked with a return to Juventus in recent weeks after failing to make an impression on Liverpool head coach Arne Slot over the last 18 months.

The Italy international has been used sparingly since arriving at Anfield last year, starting just two Premier League games across the last season and a half. A return to Juve could appeal to the 28-year-old, who will surely be eyeing game time ahead of Italy's World Cup playoff in March.

Chiesa has not played for his country since last summer's European Championship, and rejected call-ups from Italy manager Gennaro Gattuso for the international breaks earlier in the season.

Chiesa does not feel ready to play an important role for his country due to his lack of minutes at the club level, but a run of games with his old club during the second half of the season could change that.

Italy is yet to qualify for the World Cup, with a playoff semifinal against Northern Ireland waiting ahead of a possible shoot-out with either Wales or Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Liverpool is reportedly only willing to allow Chiesa to leave on a permanent deal, but reports so far have suggested that Juve wants to sign the forward on loan.

Liverpool will be mindful of letting a player leave in a similar type of deal to the one that took Harvey Elliott to Aston Villa(Image: AFP or licensors)

Italian outlet Tuttosport, though, is now reporting that Juve would be willing to sign Chiesa on a loan deal with an obligation to buy on the condition that he makes a certain number of appearances during the second half of the season.

This should set alarm bells ringing on Merseyside, considering the situation the club finds itself in with Harvey Elliott and his loan move to Aston Villa.

Elliott has not played for Villa since the beginning of October.

Villa manager Unai Emery recently admitted that the 22-year-old's lack of game time is due to the Midlands club's reluctance to trigger the buy option in the loan deal that took Elliott from Liverpool to Villa last summer.

Elliott finds himself in a tough spot, as FIFA rules stipulate that a player cannot appear for more than two clubs in a season, unless the third club plays in a league that starts and finishes at a different time of the year than the league or leagues that the first two clubs compete in.

One possible solution is for Elliott to move to MLS in the United States, which runs from February to October each year — unlike most European leagues, which tend to run from August until May.

It was reported earlier in the January window that Elliott was not considering a move to the United States.

But Sports Boom suggested last week that the player's stance has since changed.