Liverpool are claimed to have been among the clubs to attempt to sign Federico Chiesa from Fiorentina, with the Italy winger turning them down in favour of Juventus.
Chiesa has emerged as one of the most exciting young attacking talents in Europe following his breakthrough in Florence, which paved the way for his move to Juventus.
The 23-year-old signed a two-year loan deal with the Turin club in 2020, with the move becoming permanent in 2022 for a fee of up to €50 million.
Since swapping Fiorentina for Juventus, Chiesa has enhanced his reputation with 16 goals and 11 assists in 50 games, becoming a first-choice starter for Italy, with whom he has made 33 appearances so far.
His quality was already well-known prior to switching sides in Serie A, and Liverpool have long been rumoured as an interested party.
Now, Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio has told Sky Italia how Chiesa turned down an approach from the Reds while he was at Fiorentina, opting to stay in Italy.
“One of the first teams that had asked Fiorentina for Chiesa was Liverpool,” Di Marzio explained, as cited by LFC Transfer Room.
“But Chiesa said: ‘No, I don’t want to go to the Premier League because I want to stay in Italy’.
“He had already promised himself to Juve for a while.
“Liverpool always arrive early for certain players. They had already arrived for Chiesa, but both Federico and his father said no to the Premier League at that moment.”
It is likely that Chiesa was among the targets considered when Liverpool sought to bolster their attacking ranks ahead of the 2020/21 campaign.
Lille’s Jonathan David and Watford‘s Ismaila Sarr were both on the shortlist, before a £45 million deal to sign Diogo Jota from Wolves was struck, with the Portuguese now a key player at Anfield.
Whether Chiesa would have made a similar impact is unclear, with the transition from Serie A to Premier League perhaps more difficult than the step up from Wolves to Liverpool.
But it is certainly interesting that the Reds seemingly made an approach for the right winger, and though Juventus are unlikely sellers, it may be a situation worth keeping an eye on in the future.
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