Arne Slot declared he was excited to take Federico Chiesa to Liverpool and feels his £10m signing can bring both goals and a winning culture.
The Italy winger joined from Juventus for a cut-price fee to become Slot’s second signing and will become the first to appear for the team, with goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili loaned back to Valencia for the season.
But Slot believes it is unlikely that Chiesa will make his debut against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Sunday after he was frozen out at Juventus.
Liverpool would prefer to build up his fitness before picking him, with Slot saying: “He is going to train with us today but there is a bigger chance that he isn’t involved than he is.
“But if injuries come up in the next two days then we might need him. I don’t expect him to be in but I can’t guarantee it.”
The Dutchman argued Liverpool’s lack of business in the transfer window was because they already had a strong squad but feels Chiesa strengthens them with his capacity to score and his versatility.
“It is difficult for us to make the team even stronger because we already have a very good team,” he said. “We’re happy with the ones we’ve signed because it is a strong team so if we find players we’re happy.
“Chiesa can help for the short term and Mamardashvili is I think an example of what this club does in the past looking at the future of the club.
“[I am] excited 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 the first player you sign shares this culture. He [Chiesa] works really hard and is really aggressive without the ball. You can play him in so many positions.
“We should take care of him in the beginning. He hasn’t played many game minutes yet. But we will build him up in the right way and hopefully we can see his quality in the near future.”
Slot insisted he is not worried by Chiesa’s injury record, adding: “It’s true he had an ACL issue but the rest he didn’t have big injuries, just minor like other players maybe.”
Liverpool will again be without the injured Curtis Jones for Sunday’s game at Old Trafford but Slot has no other injury concerns.