Federico Chiesa edging closer towards unlikely Liverpool rebirth as Luis Diaz plan becomes clear

With only nine games of the season left to play, there remain some big question marks hanging over the futures of several Liverpool players.

Barring a catastrophic collapse, the Reds are likely to lift the Premier League title in just under two months time.

But that is unlikely to stop Arne Slot and the Liverpool recruitment team from reshaping the squad over the summer transfer window.

It remains to be seen exactly how much change will be made to the Liverpool squad, but one department which is expected to be more or less ripped up is the attack.

Darwin Nunez looks set to leave, while the big unknown is of course what happens to Mohamed Salah.

In the meantime, journalist Fabrizio Romano has poured fresh doubt on whether Luis Diaz will stay next season, suggesting that Diaz has a strong chance to leave Liverpool. If the Colombian does go, he’ll need replacing. And we know just the man to do it.

Federico Chiesa ready to pick up from Luis Diaz

Diaz has had a funny old career with Liverpool. If the Reds can get the Premier League over the line, then few will argue that it was anything other than a success.

However, question marks have persisted over the 28-year-old who has never truly delivered to the extent of predecessor Sadio Mane.

In truth, few Liverpool supporters will lose too much sleep over Diaz going, especially if they can identify an exciting player to replace him.

In our opinion, that player can absolutely be Federico Chiesa. In fact, we would make the argument that Liverpool actually brought Chiesa in as a ready-made replacement for Diaz last summer.

Reports that Diaz could leave Liverpool have been around for a while now, and it’s possible that the Reds saw Chiesa’s arrival as a cheap way to countenance if the Colombia international departed.

While Chiesa can play on the right or through the middle of the attack, we think his best position is still on the left. But with Diaz and Cody Gakpo in the way, opportunities have been limited. With Diaz out of the picture, that should change next season.

Chiesa ready to take Liverpool chance

Of course, the big elephant in the room here is that Slot has had Chiesa at his disposal for most of the season and has overlooked him time and time again.

While that is true, it’s also fair to say that the Liverpool head coach may have simply been giving the 27-year-old time to fully adjust and get up to speed on Merseyside before unleashing him next season.

At his best, there’s an argument that Chiesa is an even better player than Diaz and should Slot have the Italian and Gakpo as his options on the left next term that would not necessarily be a downgrade.

Chiesa deserves a chance in the final nine games of the season after coming on and making an impact in the Carabao Cup final.

If Slot affords him that opportunity, it should become clear that Liverpool can afford for Diaz to move on and not replace him with an Anthony Gordon or any other shiny new signing.

Things could of course head the other way and both Chiesa and Diaz could leave Liverpool this summer. But not every player can go and in the event only one exits, there could be an unlikely rebirth for the other. Our money’s on Fede.