Liverpool waiting on imminent £43m transfer to green light Arne Slot's next move

Liverpool's summer spend will exceed £250m once Hugo Ekitike's transfer from Eintracht Frankfurt is finalised and Arne Slot knows he must offload some players to balance the books - starting with Federico Chiesa

Liverpool are waiting for Atalanta to sell Ademola Lookman to Inter Milan before offloading Federico Chiesa to the Serie A side, according to reports.

Chiesa has not managed to get going at Anfield since joining the club from Juventus for around £10million last summer, with injuries largely disrupting his progress.

The winger only made one start in the Premier League as he was limited to just 14 appearances in all competitions, scoring twice.

Chiesa has not been included in Liverpool's pre-season tour of Asia, further putting doubts on his immediate future at the club. Liverpool's summer spend will exceed £250m once Hugo Ekitike has arrived and Arne Slot will need to sanction some exits to balance the books.

There has been speculation Chiesa could return to his native Italy for months and Football Italia have revealed that Atalanta are ready to rescue the 27-year-old from his nightmare spell.

The Bergamo outfit are ready to make a move for Chiesa, but only once they have confirmed Lookman's exit as they see him as the English star's replacement.

Inter are currently in the market for Lookman, who wowed last season after scoring 20 goals and assisting six times, but Atalanta are demanding at least £43m if they want to take their star forward.

The Milan outfit are looking to rebuild their squad after the departure of manager Simone Inzaghi, which came after their painful 5-0 loss to PSG in the Champions League final.

The report states that Atalanta are willing to sell Lookman, who also has interest from Napoli but only if an interest club meets their demands. So far, Inter have only offered around £34m.

It goes on to say that Chiesa is "likely" to become an Atalanta player once Lookman has left, with the player desperate to play regularly again and be in contention for Italy's potential World Cup 2026 squad.

Chiesa will know his playing time will be reduced this season with Cody Gakpo the first choice on the left-wing, while the presence of new attacking players Florian Wirtz and Hugo Ekitike will only push him further down the pecking order.

He started his career with Fiorentina and became a huge hit as he scored 34 times in 153 appearances before joining Juventus in 2020 - and while he was initially a success in Turin, opportunities quickly dried up amid injury issues before he signed for Liverpool last summer.