Liverpool play hard ball as agreement sought for international star

Liverpool are playing hard ball as an agreement is sought for an international player. Will the Reds blink?

There is now a little over a week left in the transfer window but Liverpool haven’t been all that active. We’ve seen some deals for youth players but first-team deals? Nothing.

And that counts for both coming and going. Liverpool just appear to be happy with sticking rather than twisting - which is a little strange.

After all, they’ve lost the likes of Giovanni Leoni and Conor Bradley for the season. Alexander Isak’s injury leaves them light for at least the next couple of months, too.

But there isn’t any movement. Moreover, there are players in that first-team squad who aren’t getting minutes and there was an expectation that some could be moved on this month.

Liverpool, though, aren’t making things easy.

Liverpool and Federico Chiesa

Federico Chiesa has been linked with an exit since just a few months into his Liverpool career. Arne Slot has simply never counted on him, typically affording him 10 minutes at the end of games at best.

And after a year of struggles, it felt inevitable that he'd move on in this window. Juventus have been heavily linked with a return - but AC MIlan, Napoli and AS Roma are also supposed suitors.

But it appears Liverpool aren't willing to make it easy for clubs to sign Chiesa, despite his lack of minutes. The Athletic reports that there's 'no appetite' to loan the Italian out, presumably in a loan-with-an-option deal off the table.

And so anyone hoping to sign Chiesa must put guaranteed money up. We imagine a loan with an obligation to buy would be okay, let alone a straight transfer, but it seems Liverpool would rather keep the player in their squad than let him leave only temporarily.

That might just keep him at the club, too. There have been very few links to permanent transfers and Chiesa's wages make a loan deal the preference for all potential buying clubs.

But if Liverpool won't budge, Chiesa won't move. This one could well drag on until the summer.

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