In an alternate universe, one current Liverpool player could easily be lining up in the colours of a Premier League rival instead.
Last week, the Reds completed the signing of Federico Chiesa from Juventus for an initial £10m (plus £2.5m in add-ons), a remarkably low fee which looks even better in the wake of a new revelation about the 26-year-old.
According to Football Insider, the Italy forward had also been offered to Aston Villa over the summer, and although the Midlands clubs were keen to sign him, they were unable to do so because they’d already reached their PSR threshold and were eager to avoid the risk of a points deduction.
Liverpool’s move for Chiesa already looked like a magnificent coup for such a cut-price amount, and the sense of satisfaction is amplified by the news that Villa could well have snapped him up first, only for circumstances to conspire against them.
Although Jhon Duran has begun the season with two early goals, and Unai Emery also has a proven scorer in Ollie Watkins to call upon, the Italian would’ve been a tremendous addition to the Villans’ forward line, and they’ll be fuming to have seen him join a fellow Premier League club.
The 26-year-old still needs to prove himself at Anfield, of course, but a scoring record of 47 in 235 Serie A matches shows that he can excel in a major European league and should therefore be capable of acclimatising quickly to the English top flight.
With Luis Diaz and Mo Salah beginning the campaign in prolific form, and Diogo Jota also off the mark in 2024/25, Chiesa will likely need to bide his time as a substitute, although an intense run of fixtures after the September international break may well see him granted a few starts.
On the second weekend of November, he could have the chance to rub in the pain for Villa even further if he were to score against them when Liverpool welcome Emery’s side to Anfield, and football tends to throw up such ironic narratives!
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