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Arne Slot has shed some light on Federico Chiesa and his readiness to start for Liverpool in the Premier League.

Despite arriving at Anfield in the summer with much expectation, the Italian winger has not really kicked on at Liverpool mainly due to fitness issues.

Chiesa had not played competitive football for months before his move to Liverpool, and having arrived after pre-season, he was behind most of his teammates in terms of fitness.

However, after a bout of fitness issues, the 27-year-old is now back to full fitness and is in contention to start games for Liverpool.

He started the Reds’ 3-2 loss to PSV in the Champions League and was one of the few bright sparks for Liverpool on a disappointing evening.

While he is unlikely to start when Liverpool face Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday, he is expected to make the matchday squad and could be handed some minutes by Slot.

Arne Slot provides update on Federico Chiesa Premier League readiness

During his pre-Bournemouth press conference, Slot was asked about Chiesa and his readiness to play in the Premier League.

“Yeah, of course, he is ready for more minutes in the Premier League, the Liverpool manager said when asked how ready Federico Chiesa is for more minutes in the Premier League.

“Because if he can play 90 at Champions League level, then you are able to play an amount of minutes in the Premier League.”

Slot went on to highlight why Chiesa has been used sparingly in the Premier League, pointing out that the form of other Liverpool attacking players has affected the Italy international’s chances.

“His main problem, if you want to call it a problem, is that he is in competition with Luis Diaz, Darwin Nunez, Cody Gakpo, Mo Salah and Diogo Jota.

I think you’ll agree with me that they are doing quite well also.

“But it’s very good for us that it was six or seven months ago, he said, against Switzerland [for Italy] when they lost in the Euros was the last time he played 90 minutes.

“So it’s very good from him, but definitely also from our performance staff that we’ve during training sessions got him to the point that he’s able to play 90 minutes, without a lot of friendlies or whatever?

A big compliment for him how hard he has worked and for the performance and medical staff as well.”

Read more: 4 Liverpool players in doubt vs Bournemouth

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