Liverpool are rumored to have made an offer worth € 100 million (£ 85.6 million) for Italy’s winger and Euro 2020 winner Federico Chiesa, but have been beaten by Juventus.
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Chiesa enjoyed a strong debut season in Juve 2020/21, made 14 appearances in all competitions and received international attention for his role in Italy at Euro 2020. He scored two outstanding goals in the tournament in the 16-year-olds against Austria and the semifinals. final against Spain.
Chelsea have been credited with interest in the 23-year-old, who began his senior career at Fiorentina. However, a report from the Italian newspaper La Repubblica claims that Liverpool have also made an attack on the striker.
The story suggests that Liverpool made Juventus aware of a willingness to pay 100 million euros (85.6 million pounds) for Chiesa, which would be an unlikely record transfer for the Reds, which exceeded 75 million pounds they paid Southampton for Virgil van Dijk in January 2018.
Chiesa impressed at Euro 2020 with Italy / Claudio Villa / Getty Images
But Juve have apparently refused to maintain the offer. It is said that returning coach Massimiliano Allegri believes that Chiesa is not for sale and President Andrea Agnelli supports this position.
Liverpool have had exceptional success in recent seasons, but it is already time to start updating the squad. Mohamed Salah, Sadio Mane and Roberto Firmino are all 29 and an attempt was made to alleviate the burden on these three when Diogo Jota, then 23, was signed last summer.
Success in the field has seen Liverpool’s salary costs grow significantly in recent years as players have been rewarded accordingly, but the club is struggling to compete financially with Manchester City and Chelsea, despite a decent record of selling players for good money.
Lack of financial muscle has prevented Liverpool from driving Kylian Mbappe, but even if € 100 million for Chiesa would be a huge investment, the probability if it had gone further would have meant a highly structured deal to minimize the advance payment.
The Reds are no stranger to such deferred transfers and pay only minimal fees to Jota and Thiago Alcantara last summer, while the rest of the fees are paid in annual installments.
Following the arrival of Ibrahima Konate, Liverpool are still looking for a new midfielder and striker, but incoming transfer deals are likely to be funded primarily by player sales, while realistic arrivals are likely to cost well below Chiesa’s reported valuation.
The departures of Marko Grujic, Taiwo Awoniyi, Kamil Grabara and Harry Wilson (who are set for Fulham) have already raised around £ 30 million at Anfield, while Neco Williams, Divock Origi, Loris Karius and Xherdan Shaqiri can all also be sold in due course.
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