Ryan Smart
A Serie A expert has revealed the real reason why Juventus want to sell Liverpool and Barcelona target Federico Chiesa.
The 26-year-old has been deemed surplus to requirements at Juve by new manager Thiago Motta, according to BBC Sport.
That has piqued the interest of Liverpool, who are said to be keen to complete a deal that could be worth around £16 million.
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Chiesa scored 10 goals for Juve in all competitions last season - his highest tally since the 2020/21 campaign - and was part of Italy's squad at Euro 2024.
Gianluca DiMarzio claims that the winger's preference is to move to Barcelona, but the club's well-publicised financial difficulties could prevent a deal from happening.
Les Cules were able to register new signing Dani Olmo on Monday, but only after a series of departures that would likely have to be in some way replicated if Chiesa joined.
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Now, Transfermarkt Italian football expert Stefano Buonfino has explained why exactly Juve want to sell Chiesa - and there are a variety of factors at play.
"Chiesa hasn't been able to play at his best at Juventus for different reasons," he began.
"First of all, his bad injury [serious knee injury suffered in January 2022] was a major setback. And even when he got back, it affected him for many months. Chiesa didn't seem to fully trust his body after the injury.
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"Then he played most of the time as a support striker, which isn't his best position because he's clearly better as a winger.
"Because of these factors, Chiesa isn't considered as one of Juventus' best players, and he has a very high salary that they don't want to pay as they adapt their approach.
"So Chiesa and Juventus are considering a transfer now as he wants to be an important player, and Juventus could earn some money."