Arne Slot plays down fears that new man Federico Chiesa is injury prone and reveals whether £12.5m Italian winger will be involved for Liverpool against Man United

Arne Slot says he is excited to welcome Federico Chiesa to the club – and the Liverpool head coach believes the Italian winger matches the hard-working culture of the rest of his newly-inherited team.

The Reds confirmed Chiesa as their second summer signing on Thursday with the 26-year-old joining on a four-year deal from Juventus for a base fee of £10million, which could rise to £12.5m including add-ons if Liverpool win the Premier League or Champions League.

Chiesa has been admired at Anfield since his days of playing for Fiorentina and the club believe they have got a bargain, especially noting fees paid for other wingers around Europe this summer.

Slot said: ‘Of course we are happy. I said many times it is difficult for us to make the team stronger because we already had a strong team. So we are very happy.

‘Chiesa can help us for the short term and (fellow signing) Giorgi Mamardashvili is an example of what this club did very well in the past of looking (after) the long-term future. And that is why we signed him.

‘(I am) excited, like I said before. If we can sign someone who can help us achieve our goals and improve the squad. One of the best things about working here is the culture of the team. They work really hard to achieve their goals.

‘So it's really important that the first player you bring in has that same attitude and brings the same culture. He works really hard on and off the pitch to get the best and combines this with goals. He is really aggressive without the ball.

‘Those are two characteristics with him. You can play him in so many positions – on the right, left and maybe in the middle.’

Liverpool have started the process to get international clearance so Chiesa can be in the squad for the trip to Manchester United on Sunday, though it is unlikely he will be called upon given the lack of minutes he has played for Juventus in the past month or so.

He was frozen out by Old Lady manager Thiago Motta and has not featured this season, meaning his last minutes were for Italy in this summer’s European Championship. But Slot is confident Liverpool can get over his questionable injury record.

Chiesa had an ACL injury in 2022 but the Liverpool head coach said: ‘It would not be the first time the English media over exaggerated! He did his ACL but the rest were not big injuries. We trust our performance staff and he is one of four wingers we have.

‘We should take care of him in the beginning. He hasn't played many game minutes yet. We have very good performance staff so we will build him up in the right way and hopefully we can see his quality in the near future.’

Chiesa will train on Friday morning but midfielder Curtis Jones is still injured and will miss the trip to Old Trafford. Slot will face fellow Dutchman Erik ten Hag, who he has a good relationship with but the pair are not close enough to meet up outside of a work setting.

Slot added: ‘​​Some tried to tell me a few things about (the United-Liverpool rivalry) but everyone knows how important the game is. Similar to when at Feyenoord and you face Ajax. The relationship (with Ten Hag) is very good.

‘We all respect each other because of what the managers did at their former clubs. Friends? No, friends is something else but a very good relationship. A friend is someone you see a lot and go to dinner. We don't know each other well enough!’