A top Liverpool journalist has ended growing rumors that the Reds will admit defeat by selling Federico Chiesa in January, with the club’s true intentions regarding the Italian revealed instead.

Liverpool signed just two first-team signings last summer – Giorgi Mamardashvili and Federico Chiesa. The former was quickly loaned out to Valencia, while Chiesa has struggled with all-too-familiar injury problems since arriving at Anfield.

His continued unavailability has prompted speculation that Liverpool and perhaps Chiesa are also ready to end their relationship after just six months without incident. Indeed, InterLive were the last to intervene, asserting Chiesa’s agent was already in talks for a January move with Inter Milan and Roma..

But in answering two questions about Chiesa in a question-and-answer session for AthleticsLiverpool pundit James Pearce has insisted the Italian will not move in January. Pearce also revealed that Liverpool were effectively offering Chiesa a ‘mini pre-season’ in order to speed up his adaptation to the more high-intensity football offerings of the Premier League.

Pearce was asked the following questions: 1) “Any news on Chiesa’s injury?” Is there a good reason why Juventus let him leave so cheaply?’ 2) “Is there any substance to the rumors that Chiesa could be moved in January?

The Reds journalist responded: “It has been an extremely frustrating start for Chiesa. He played just 78 minutes (including just 19 minutes in the Premier League and Champions League) and the excitement generated by his signing in August evaporated.

“Liverpool are essentially giving him a mini pre-season in the hope that he can improve his fitness. It’s about managing the intensity of training.

“It is too early to write off Chiesa and there is no truth to the rumors that Liverpool are already considering getting rid of him.

“He played 37 times for Juventus last season, so it’s not like he arrived at Anfield after an injury-plagued campaign. He was cheap at £10m because he was in the final year of his contract and they wanted him off the payroll.

LEARN MORE: The key details of each Liverpool first-team player’s contract: expiry dates, weekly salary, agents…

When will Chiesa play again?

Providing an update on Chiesa’s situation ahead of the international break, manager Arne Slot suggested there was light at the end of the tunnel.

“I wouldn’t use the word worry but it’s far from ideal for him and for us,” Slot said (quoted by Sports Illustrated).

“Because with Dioga (Jota)’s injury we have four strikers available, so it could have been a good time for him to get more playing time.

“It’s difficult for a player who missed pre-season and played pre-season games and practices. A player needs to be given more time to reach intensity levels.

“It’s a difficult balance to get him to where we want but we’re trying and he’s doing everything he can to get to those levels.

“Once he reaches that physical level, we will benefit from his presence.

“At the moment we are expecting him back during the international break and then he should be with us after the international break normally.”

Liverpool’s first match after the international break will be a trip to Southampton on Sunday, November 24.

The Reds then face a difficult four-game stretch against Real Madrid (Champions League), Manchester City and Newcastle before traveling to Goodison Park for the first Merseyside derby of the season with Everton.

Liverpool Latest News – Zubimendi returns to the point

Elsewhere, Jamie Carragher has urged Liverpool to swallow their pride and make a second attempt to sign Martin Zubimendi. This is after the Spaniard rejected Liverpool’s advances last summer.

“Do it,” Carragher said on the Stick to football podcast. “Zubimendi is the player he wanted, they ended up putting (Ryan) Gravenberch there who was fantastic, but if he’s the player you want – go ahead and do it – you might not be never in this position.

Elsewhere, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano confirmed Liverpool remain “big fans” of Zubimendi. However, Arne Slot is not the only manager full of admiration for the player, with Mikel Arteta and Xabi Alonso also fond of the Real Sociedad man.

“What I want to tell you today is that Liverpool are still monitoring Martin Zubimendi constantly,” Romano told him YouTubth chain.

“It’s also true that there are two managers who are big fans of Zubimendi, apart from we know Liverpool and Arne Slot, which they already did last summer and they remain interested and continue to monitor the player Mikel Arteta also likes Zubimendi and also Xabi Alonso.

The Independent recently claimed Arsenal could consider signing Zubimendi next summer. Amid growing speculation over Alonso’s succession to Carlo Ancelotti at the Bernabeu, Real Madrid could also emerge as a genuine contender for the midfield maestro position next year.

Chiesa’s lack of availability exposed

So far at Liverpool, Chiesa has only played 5.1% of the minutes Liverpool have played this season – completing just 1.8% of the time he could have played in the Premier League and 0.3% of their matches in UCL.

He is doing a little better in the Carabao Cup and it is in this competition that he has played the most so far.