Liverpool star’s £8 million yearly salary is a big ‘roadblock’ to leaving as top European clubs watch closely.
Andoni Iraola has had to use his whole team so far this season since the club is playing in three different competitions. Liverpool have started their Champions League campaign perfectly. They also seem to be doing well in the Premier League and recently beat Tottenham Hotspur in the Carabao Cup.
There’s a good vibe at Anfield with Iraola in charge, but there’s one player who might want to leave. The problem is his high salary is making things tricky.
Iraola has now been at Liverpool for a few months and has had time to think about his squad. Some players probably already know they won’t be part of his plans.
Liverpool has plenty of attacking players, especially after adding French star Bradley Barcola from PSG this summer. Because of this, Italian player Federico Chiesa has dropped down the list, especially since young Rio Ngumoha has become a regular, and Víctor Muñoz is quickly winning over the fans after joining this summer.
Chiesa might now be thinking about his future. He hasn’t played much under Iraola and could be looking to leave. Several big Italian clubs, like Lazio, Inter Milan, and Atalanta, are interested in bringing him back to Serie A.
But, as Spanish site Fichajes reports, his high wages are a big problem. According to Capology, Chiesa earns about £160,000 per week, which is around £8.3 million a year. If he’s willing to take a pay cut, many clubs would want to sign him. But if he’s happy with his current salary and role at Liverpool, he might choose to stay until his contract ends.
Chiesa was highly praised after helping Italy win the 2020 European Championship and was named in the ‘Team of the Tournament.’ Unfortunately, he suffered a serious knee injury while at Juventus and spent a lot of time trying to recover.
The 28-year-old is a European Championship winner, has played 51 times for Italy, and won the Coppa Italia twice with Juventus. He’s clearly talented, but his injuries have affected his career.
Even with this experience, Iraola didn’t pick him during a recent injury to Alexander Isak. Instead, he chose young Lewis Koumas for matches against Manchester City and LASK in the Champions League. Koumas did very well, but this might have hurt Chiesa’s chances even more, as he didn’t get a chance to show he could play as a striker for Liverpool.
This might be Iraola’s way of sending a clear message about Chiesa’s future at the club.