Italy national team head coach Luciano Spalletti has explained that he wanted to take Federico Chiesa with him in his latest Italy squad, even if he wasn’t going to play, but couldn’t due to his training schedule with Liverpool.
Spalletti announced his squad for Nations League fixtures against France and Israel on Friday, and also gave his customary press conference at Coverciano on Monday.
Chiesa was not selected this time around, and though he was not likely to feature, Spalletti wanted to include him as a sign of solidarity after a tough summer with Juventus.
The 26-year-old was told that he was not part of Thiago Motta’s plans for the 2024-25 season and was left to train on his own at Continassa for the majority of the summer.
He then sealed a last-minute move to Liverpool, joining for a fee of €15m including add-ons.
Why Spalletti could not select Chiesa for Italy duty
Spalletti confirmed that because of his irregular pre-season. Chiesa is on a specific training programme with Liverpool, and needs to stay behind to get back to full match fitness.
“Chiesa and I spoke and made a fair assessment. I would have brought him as an extra player, not participating in the games. He told me that he had spoken to his new club and that he needs to do specific preparation work with them,” the CT confirmed.
Everything Spalletti said during Italy press conference: ‘I will create a new team’