Liverpool’s Attack Rebuild: Chiesa Faces Exit as Inter Milan Circle

Liverpool’s overhaul of their attack is only just getting started – and Federico Chiesa looks increasingly like collateral damage.

Richard Hughes has already moved decisively, triggering Victor Munoz’s release clause at Osasuna and landing the Spain World Cup winner for £34 million. Munoz is the first piece in a sweeping reshuffle of Liverpool’s frontline for the 2026/27 season, not the last.

The plan is clear: inject one-v-one quality out wide after Mohamed Salah’s free transfer to Trabzonspor ripped a huge hole in the right flank. Liverpool want at least two more wingers. Not squad fillers. Game-breakers.

Barcola, Mbaye, Minteh: the winger hunt

At the top of the list sits Bradley Barcola. Liverpool like him, Paris Saint-Germain know it, and the price reflects it. PSG are holding firm at around £145m for the France international, a fee that would smash Liverpool’s transfer record.

Barcola isn’t the only PSG talent on the radar. Ibrahim Mbaye, just 18, has also been discussed, with the two-time European champions seeking roughly £60m for the teenager. Raw, expensive, but the kind of profile Liverpool’s recruitment department has chased before.

The net has been cast wider. Bids have gone in for Yankuba Minteh, with optimism around Anfield that a deal can be done if Brighton’s £70m valuation is met. It’s an aggressive, expensive pursuit of wide talent, and it will have consequences for those already in the building.

Gakpo and Chiesa in the firing line

Cody Gakpo is one of the names pushed towards the exit door. The Dutchman has been linked with a big-money move to Tottenham Hotspur, a transfer that could bring in around £72m and help fund this winger spree.

Then there is Chiesa.

Signed in 2024 as the headline addition for new boss Arne Slot, the Italy international was supposed to bring cutting edge and big-game pedigree to the Premier League. Instead, he has struggled to adapt, never truly imposing himself on English football or on Liverpool’s attack.

At 28, on wages of £150,000 per week, Chiesa has become a problem. A costly one.

Inter move in as value crashes

Inter Milan have sensed an opportunity. The former Juventus winger joined Liverpool for a fee that could rise to £12.5m, but his stock has slumped after two flat, unconvincing seasons.

Italian outlet Sportal summed up the Nerazzurri’s stance bluntly: “It's no secret that Federico Chiesa has long been in Inter's sights: the Liverpool striker fits the profile of the player the Nerazzurri are looking for.”

Inter’s move is tied to their own domino effect. Once Luis Henrique’s transfer to Roma is completed – expected to be a loan with an obligation to buy – Cristian Chivu is ready to act. Roma and Inter are working on a total package of around €30m for Henrique, including fixed fee and bonuses. When that falls into place, Inter want Chiesa.

The issue for Liverpool is the fee.

Sportal reports that “Chiesa's market value currently stands at less than €10 million: a tempting opportunity that Marotta could seize.” Inter are pushing to pay only €10m (£8.5m) for the Euro 2020 winner, a figure miles away from the £20m Liverpool were initially believed to be seeking earlier in the window.

From marquee signing to cut-price exit

For Hughes, this is brutal reading. Chiesa has cost Liverpool £150k per week over two largely unproductive campaigns and now looks set to be sold at a loss. The numbers are ugly. The optics worse.

He was the only addition sanctioned for Slot when the Dutchman arrived in 2024. One big swing. One that has not connected. With Liverpool now chasing Barcola, Mbaye and Minteh, the Chiesa deal sits there as a cautionary tale – a misstep in a recruitment department that cannot afford many.

Inter, though, see an opportunity. A Euro winner, a proven Serie A performer, available for a fraction of his peak value. If Roma sign off on Henrique and Chivu gets his way, Chiesa’s Liverpool chapter could close quietly, and cheaply.

The question now is simple: will Liverpool swallow the loss to clear the decks for their new wide revolution, or dig in and risk being stuck with a winger who no longer fits the plan?