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Federico Chiesa trained alongside Liverpool’s newest signing, 16-year-old Rio Ngumoha, on Thursday, with the pair catching the eye in the U21s’ session.
Having turned down the opportunity to join the Italy squad for the September break, Chiesa has stayed on Merseyside to work on his fitness.
That comes having barely trained with Juventus’ first team throughout pre-season, frozen out ahead of his £12.5 million move, meaning Liverpool will take a cautious approach with their No. 14.
With Arne Slot back in the Netherlands and the majority of the senior squad on international duty, Chiesa’s week has been spent with the U21s.
And on Thursday that saw him train alongside another new arrival in Ngumoha, whose deal to join Liverpool from Chelsea was ratified by the Premier League the day before.
Putting in the work ?
Watch behind the scenes footage as Federico Chiesa joined up with the U21s at the AXA Training Centre ?
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) September 5, 2024
Chiesa introduced himself to the 16-year-old as they got their boots on before heading out onto the pitch at the AXA Training Centre.
There they were put through their paces by first-team individual development coach Aaron Briggs, who led the session alongside fitness coach Jordan Fairclough, U21s coach Barry Lewtas and academy director Alex Inglethorpe.
After a number of warmup drills the young Reds were put through their paces in small-sided games, joined by the impressive Chiesa.
It was no surprise that the Italian stood out with his sharpness and finishing ability, but Ngumoha also caught the eye as Liverpool focused on one-on-one play out wide.
Rio Ngumoha straight into training with Liverpool ? pic.twitter.com/WLwlGySNQb
— TheSecretScout (@TheSecretScout_) September 5, 2024
The teenager – the youngest player in the group – dazzled with his quick feet cutting in from the left, with U18s right-back DJ Esdaille given the unenviable task of marking him.
Dominic Corness, James Norris, Terence Miles and training goalkeeper Reece Trueman were among the older players involved, but it was a largely youthful group.
Amara Nallo, Kieran Morrison, Michael Laffey, Ranel Young, Trent Kone-Doherty, Keyrol Figueroa and Kornel Misciur may all be teenagers but they are now regulars at U21s level.
They were joined by U18s Esdaille and Josh Sonni-Lambie, while Ngumoha is expected to start life in Marc Bridge-Wilkinson’s squad too.
It is unlikely that Chiesa will be given game time at U21s level, with their next game not until September 22 with the visit of Derby, and the plan will be for him to rejoin the first team next week.
But there are positive signs from the 26-year-old already, not least in his attitude as he gets to work in the absence of his new team-mates.
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