Federico Chiesa's Liverpool Future Under Pressure After Roy Keane's Comment
Federico Chiesa is still a Liverpool player. That simple fact now feels like a talking point in itself.
A summer of upheaval at Anfield saw some of the club’s most familiar faces walk away for nothing. Mohamed Salah, Andy Robertson and Ibrahima Konate all left at the end of their contracts, while Curtis Jones departed in a £30 million move to Inter Milan. Amid the exits and rebuilding, Chiesa’s name kept surfacing in the rumour mill, frequently tied to a possible return to Serie A.
He never went. He stayed on Merseyside. And that’s where the scrutiny has sharpened.
“Is he still there?” – Keane’s jab cuts deep
On Stick to Football, Jamie Carragher was running through Liverpool’s squad options when he landed on Chiesa and Wataru Endo, suggesting the pair “aren’t gonna kick a ball” for the club this season. Before the debate could even build, Roy Keane cut across him with four words that said plenty:
“Is he still there?”
It was a throwaway line, delivered with typical Keane bite, but it exposed a harsh truth. For long stretches of his Liverpool career, Chiesa has felt like an afterthought.
His ability has rarely been questioned. His influence has. Last season he featured in 26 Premier League matches but started just once – at home to Wolves in December. One league start across an entire campaign. That number alone tells the story of his place in the pecking order.
Injury, timing and a crowded wing
The new season has not offered a clean reset. Chiesa has missed Liverpool’s first two league games, but not purely through selection. He picked up a minor injury during a pre-season friendly against Como, a setback Andoni Iraola has already addressed. The Liverpool head coach expects the winger to return to training during the international break in late September.
That recovery schedule carries its own problem. By the time Chiesa is back, more matches will have passed him by, and he will be trying to break into a group that has only grown more congested on the flanks.
The signing of Bradley Barcola has turned the competition up another notch, giving Liverpool five senior winger options. For a player already wrestling for relevance, it is a brutal reality. Every week on the sidelines risks making Keane’s jibe feel a little more accurate.
Yet there is still a crack of light.
Chiesa remains the only natural right-sided forward in Iraola’s senior squad. That detail matters over a long, punishing season. Liverpool will need rotation. They will need fresh legs, different profiles, someone who can attack that channel with pace and directness when others are flagged or out of form. A fit, sharp, fully engaged Chiesa still offers something no one else quite does.
Perception versus potential
Right now, though, perception is his biggest opponent.
Keane’s comment landed because it matched the public view: a talented player whose Liverpool career has never quite caught fire. Cameos, flashes, moments – but not a sustained run that forces his name onto the teamsheet.
If Chiesa wants to change that, the answer is no longer in interviews or speculation. It lies in what he does with the minutes he gets, however limited they may be. Even if starts remain rare, decisive contributions off the bench can flip a narrative quickly. Goals that change games. Assists that rescue points. Performances that make it impossible to ignore him when Iraola looks down the line for his next substitute.
As things stand, Chiesa looks set for another season living on the fringes of the XI, his status debated more in studios than on the pitch. But football doesn’t move in straight lines. One return to fitness, one opening in the side, one run of form – and the player everyone forgot can suddenly become the one Liverpool can’t do without.
If that moment comes, “Is he still there?” won’t be a punchline. It will be the question defenders start asking as he sprints past them.
