Why Federico Chiesa is not in Italy squad after Liverpool transfer

Federico Chiesa will play no part in Italy's Nations League fixtures with Belgium and Israel this month after once again being left out of Luciano Spalletti's 23-man squad.

The winger was absent for the Azzurri during last month's victories over France and Israel , having failed to feature throughout pre-season and the early part of the campaign for after being frozen out by Thiago Motta.

Having become a Reds player just days before the players jetted off around the world to link up with their countries, thought it better to remain on Merseyside to bed in and get to work on .

Chiesa has since and registered an assist in his only start against in the Carabao Cup, having featured off the bench for cameos against and in the two previous fixtures.

The Italian was then an unused substitute , before being dropped completely against Bologna in the Champions League on Wednesday .

Liverpool manager Arne Slot to determine whether Chiesa will play a part in Saturday's trip to , having only returned to training on Friday after missing the two previous sessions.

“He [Chiesa] came in today to see if he could train, and if he can, I still have a decision to make because we can only select 20 [players], and he hasn’t trained for a few days,” Slot said on Friday. “But first of all, we have to wait and see if he can even train – and if he can then it’s our decision if we bring him to the game or not.”

However, Chiesa's fresh fitness issue would appear to be the reason he hasn't been selected for Italy this month, which in itself suggests he might not play a part in Saturday's clash with Crystal Palace.

The decision not to travel with the Italy national team may also be down to Chiesa himself, having previously opted to remain on Merseyside in order to build up his fitness. The same reasoning could also be in play here, especially if the 26-year-old feels he'll benefit more from staying at the club.