Liverpool manager Arne Slot has criticised attacker Federico Chiesa after he returned from injury against Southampton. 

Chiesa hasn’t played much for Liverpool since signing in the summer transfer window. He has been dealing with injury and fitness issues.

The Italian attacker has made just one Premier League appearance, but he did return against Southampton in a Carabao Cup clash on Wednesday night.

Chiesa came on as a substitute for Trent Alexander-Arnold at the start of the second half when the Reds were 2-0 up in the game.

After the game, Slot told Hayters TV: “I don’t know if we saw the same but I saw is what you can expect. If a player is out for five or six months, you cannot expect… I saw ups and downs.

“There were some really good moments and there were some moments where I felt, okay, you can do better than this.”

Chiesa signed for Liverpool for a fee of £12.5m from Serie A side Juventus where he had spent the previous four seasons.

Slot tried not to be too harsh on the attacker, suggesting that his fitness levels aren’t where they should be just yet.

He added: “For me, that’s completely normal if a player’s been out for so long and plays his first game in five, six months. And I already said before, that makes it so difficult for me because normally in the pre-season, a player gets three, four or five games especially and then he’s only out for four or five weeks.”

Federico Chiesa’s early struggles at Liverpool

Chiesa has made just four appearances since joining in the summer at Liverpool, starting just one game, which came in the Carabao Cup.

The 27-year-old could be considered a flop signing so far, but seeing as he has struggled with his fitness, there is room for improvement for the attacker.

The best spell of his career came during his spell with Juventus, he made 131 appearances for the Old Lady, scoring 32 goals and 23 assists.