Liverpool are flying high at the top of both the Premier League and Champions League but head coach Arne Slot faces a potential problem early on in the January transfer window.
The Dutchman has made an impressive start to life at Anfield, with his side six points clear of closest rivals Arsenal in the Premier League and with a game in hand.
Liverpool next face bitter rivals Manchester United on Sunday and could see their lead cut to just three points before the game, with Arsenal taking on Brighton away from home on Saturday.
Slot may be surprised by how well things are going for him in his debut season in English football but the former Feyenoord boss is not without some headaches.
There is still uncertainty surrounding the futures of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who are all out of contract at the end of the season and still locked in negotiations with the club over new deals.
Meanwhile, there are also doubts over summer signing Federico Chiesa, who has managed just 123 minutes for Liverpool’s senior team this season.
Chiesa joined Liverpool from Juventus in a deal worth around £10m in August, becoming the club’s only senior signing of the summer window.
But the 27-year-old Italy international has struggled for fitness since arriving in English football, failing to make his mark in the first half of the campaign.
According to Foot Mercato, Chiesa is now pushing for a January transfer and an immediate return to Italy.
Anfield Watch report that the player is homesick, dislikes the weather in England and is struggling with the physicality of the Premier League.
Meanwhile, TBR Football state that Chiesa’s entourage has openly admitted to Liverpool that he would like to leave after becoming ‘hugely frustrated’ at Anfield.
Interestingly, it is also claimed that Liverpool would be open to letting him leave.
Where could Chiesa go?
Atalanta, Napoli, Inter, AC Milan, Roma and Fiorentina have all been linked with a move for Chiesa, as have former club Juventus.
Any move is likely to be a short-term loan, however, with teams in Italy reluctant to pay his reported €7.5m (£6m) annual salary.
Slot has urged Liverpool supporters to remain patient with Chiesa amid his fitness issues, which he says have been complicated by the step up in intensity from Italian football to English.
“If a player is out for five or six months, you cannot expect [him to be at his best straight away],” said Slot.
“Normally in a pre-season a player gets three, four or five games, especially. And then he’s only had four or five weeks now he’s out for so long, so to get him back to his best level is not easy.”
