Story byThe Year of Chiesa – Why 2026 is shaping up to be massive for the Liverpool starFootball ItaliaFri, December 5, 2025 at 5:35 PM UTC·7 min readAh, Federico Chiesa. It has been a turbulent five years for the Italian forward: from leaving Fiorentina in a massively hyped move to Juventus, to shining for Italy at the EUROs in 2021, to the injury disappointment that followed and his mixed spell in the Premier League with Liverpool. AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementHowever, 2025 has revealed a small, glimmering light at the end of what has been a very dark tunnel for the 28-year-old and next year is shaping up to be decisive for his career. It is getting close to make or break for the Genoa-born winger and he will need all the stars to align in a potentially huge twelve months for club and country. Federico Chiesa – How on earth did we get here?It has been over a year since Chiesa last played for Italy and since his arrival at Liverpool in the summer of 2024, he has made only 29 appearances for the Merseyside club, many of which came off the bench. Quite the severe fall from grace, for a player who was named in the Team of the Tournament at EURO 2020 as the Azzurri lifted the trophy, beating England in the final at Wembley in London. Federico Chiesa of Liverpool is seen during the UEFA Champions League 2024/25 League Phase MD8 match between PSV Eindhoven and Liverpool FC at PSV Stadion on January 29, 2025 in Eindhoven, Netherlands. (Photo by Lars Baron/)AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementBefore his move to Liverpool, even in the seasons shortened by his ACL injury, Chiesa had never played less than 14 matches in a domestic league season. Over just three seasons at Fiorentina, the then-starlet played 137 times in Serie A for the Viola.
