Liverpool’s inbound Italian stallion is one of Europe’s deadliest wingers & he wants revenge

A football career is magnificently short, so time is of the essence when living the dream and making sure you live it to the absolute maximum.

That is much easier said than done, though, in a brutal sport where timing is everything.

Right place, wrong time. It’s a cliche, but it’s true.

It might be shopping in TK Maxx the day before the store takes delivery and missing out on the best of the bargains. It might be saving up to purchase that sweet, sweet Abarth 595 you’ve been longing for, only for the door handle to pull right off its hinges with the very first tug – the beginning of a long, expensive list of issues.

Hell, it could even be as devastating as planning the trip of a lifetime to see an event you’ve only ever been able to dream of, for it to be postponed.

Ask Federico Chiesa about the right place wrong time cliche, and he’ll tell you a harrowing reality about his torrid time in Turin.

January 2022. The Stadio Olimpico plays host to one of Serie A’s most brilliantly chaotic affairs, with Juventus running away from Rome 4-3 winners from a fantastic seven-goal thriller.

All should’ve been well, but on the same night, Chiesa’s career changed forever, almost six months after a crowning moment on the national stage with Italy as they won Euro 2020. He ruptured his ACL and in doing so ruptured the spirit of the Old Lady, still fragile having fallen away from domestic dominance.

The years that have followed for the Italian Stallion with a flick the Beatles would’ve been envious of and a burst of pace that belonged nowhere near a football club owned by a family who made their name producing FIAT.

It’s quite fitting, actually, that FIAT earned the unfortunate acronym ‘Fix It Again Tony’ for historic reliability issues, when discussing Chiesa – because if Juventus was Tony in this situation, they’ve done nothing to fix their stallion, instead letting him rust away in the cold while they try to move on.

The love has been lost for Chiesa in Turin, for some time. At least from the perspective of the football club.

Over two years on from an injury that has had lasting damage, Thiago Motta has deemed Chiesa damaged goods and frozen him out of his squad, leaving one of Europe’s most capable wingers on the brink of obscurity.

Thankfully, Liverpool are sniffing around and a move to Anfield might just prove the perfect love story between a storied institution and a hopeless romantic.

It might seem rather unexpected, but Liverpool’s admiration of the now 26-year-old is longstanding according to David Ornstein, who reports that the Reds are working to sign Chiesa for a cut-price €15million/£12.4million before the transfer window slams shut.

Immediately the alarm bells sound. Why such a small fee for a player so supposedly talented? Chiesa must be damaged, judging by his faltering form post-injury and his rocky fitness record since then.

While the injury record poses some cause for concern, there is no denying the Italian’s effectiveness.

And at just 26, he still has his best years ahead of him to recover, ink his boots in the white chalk of Premier League touchlines and claim the ankles of top defenders across England with his devastating technique.

Federico Chiesa 23/24.

Don’t let anyone tell you he isn’t still one of Europe’s premier wingers.

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Sports science is powerful, but it can only go so far in healing a wounded soldier such as Chiesa – which brings us back to time.

He’s only been afforded one full season at Juve to try and recover his best form, in a dysfunctional and largely negative side languishing in no man’s land under Massimiliano Allegri, lacking love and care.

And even in that turbulent time with the winger misfiring more than an old Punto, he still showed glimpses of ability reminiscent of a prancing horse, finishing with 10 goals and three assists in all competitions.

In a forward-thinking project at its very beginning under Arne Slot at Anfield, though, the Italian can be buoyed by a fresh start, a new era and a rampant crowd desperate to put an arm around a man who – when in full stride – could put you in hospital with motion sickness.

Timing is everything. It was undoubtedly the wrong place and time in Turin for Chiesa, but with his best years ahead of him, it’s hard to see how a low-risk move for Liverpool isn’t the right place at the right time for everyone involved.

By Mitch Wilks