Federico Chiesa has taken a step forward in his return to match fitness, but Arne Slot has not yet put a date on when we can expect to see him back in action for Liverpool.
It has been almost two months since Chiesa’s last appearance for the Reds – an hour-long stint against West Ham in the League Cup.
Given the attacker’s well-documented previous injury problems in Italy, worries over his availability are understandable.
However, Liverpool are proceeding with caution over Chiesa and managing his return slowly.
On Friday, Arne Slot said: “[Diogo] Jota is still apart from the group, same as Federico, who is coming back into the session maybe in one exercise today.
“They are all expected to be back within now and a few weeks, but the last part of the recovery is always the most difficult one. So, let’s wait and see.”
As Slot said he would, Chiesa was later seen training with the first team. Initially, we expected this to just be during the warm-ups, but he was later also spotted playing in the squad’s small-sided games.
While it is likely Chiesa left the session sometime after the cameras stopped rolling, it was nonetheless pleasing to see him appearing to play pain-free.
Federico Chiesa’s managed return
While it can sometimes be frustrating to see players training and not be involved in matches, there is good reason.
Liverpool’s fitness staff will be taking care not to overload Chiesa because, as Slot has repeatedly mentioned, “the last part of the recovery is always the most difficult one.”
In mid-November, the Athletic’s James Pearce claimed that the Reds are currently giving the winger a “mini pre-season in the hope that he can build up his fitness levels,” in order to handle the intensity of Slot‘s training.
This would make sense given Chiesa didn’t have a proper pre-season with Liverpool before the campaign began.
On November 1, Liverpool’s head coach explained of Alisson, Jota and Chiesa’s problems: “I think I said it already a few times, it’s always difficult to exactly tell you when they are ready, because especially the last phase of the recovery can always be a few days extra or less.
“The fact is that they are not there before the international break, and let’s see if they can join us after.”
