Arne Slot has unlocked two more Liverpool options as Federico Chiesa reality clear
Liverpool made it seven wins out of seven in the Champions League midweek and is top of the Premier League table by six points heading into the Ipswich Town fixture this weekend.
Every week, we'll be answering your Liverpool FC questions. Whether they come in on X/Twitter, email, Facebook, YouTube or elsewhere, we'll pick three each week to go through. This week, we start with Wataru Endo.
Every time Arne Slot speaks about Wataru Endo, it feels like a backhanded compliment. What comes next for him at Liverpool?
I'm not sure that's just Endo. Slot has often used a question about one player to speak about another since coming to Liverpool, usually preferring to speak about the group as a whole rather than an individual. When he's asked about Cody Gakpo, he'll find a way to praise Luis Diaz too.
READ MORE: Left-back responds to Liverpool transfer rumors as stance made perfectly clear
In terms of the future, we spoke to Endo a couple of weeks ago after the Accrington game in the FA Cup and he was adamant that he wasn't frustrated by not playing much. I asked if he felt center-back was a way into the team for him but he was reluctant to commit on that either.
Ultimately, he's not going to break into the starting XI but he's a really useful squad option — in midfield or further back. In the summer, if Liverpool can find an upgrade then fantastic. If not, it wouldn't be the worst thing to keep someone around who is happy even when he isn't featuring much.
Harvey Elliott has barely featured for Liverpool and has been linked with a move away (though he has now made it clear he isn't going anywhere). What does the future hold for him?
Elliott was never likely to want to leave. At 21, the reality is that he doesn't need to either. If he isn't starting every week, who cares? If he can start sometimes and make an impact off the bench more often than not, that is about where he should be at this stage of his Liverpool career.
A boyhood Reds fan, he is prepared to fight for minutes. And in Curtis Jones, he has a good example to follow: this time last year, Jones was in a position where he was only ever looking like being a squad option and little more for Liverpool. Now, he has become more than that and has found more consistency. Things can change quickly and Elliott remains hugely talented.
Federico Chiesa has started to look a bit sharper recently. What's his ceiling with Liverpool?
Chiesa scoring against Accrington came with the caveat of it being a League Two team but the Italian has since made an impact against Brentford and Lille too. That is a big step in the right direction for him and he needs to further build on it now.
He is never going to be a nailed-on starter because that would mean overtaking Gakpo, Diaz and Mohamed Salah in the pecking order, but that doesn't matter. For such a small sum of money, if he can become another Xherdan Shaqiri and play his part sporadically, then Liverpool will consistently win trophies.
You need a deep roster to go far on all fronts and no team in the world has as strong a six forwards as Liverpool. The problem is keeping them all fit and ready, but Chiesa is looking more like that now. Arne Slot could genuinely find Chiesa is like a new signing in the second half of the season if he is finally ready to show what he is all about.
