Clubs in Serie A would almost certainly need Liverpool to cover a large chunk of Federico Chiesa's wages in order to facilitate the player's return to Italy, as AC Milan reportedly eyes a move.

Chiesa joined Liverpool from Juventus last summer but has appeared just four times for his new club, with the vast majority of his minutes coming in the Carabao Cup.

The 26-year-old winger went nearly three months without appearing for the Reds between September and December, and made his return as a half-time substitute against Southampton in the Carabao Cup a week before Christmas.

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Owing to his lack of minutes since moving to Anfield, Chiesa has been linked with a return to Italy, and a report by Calcio Mercato says AC Milan, Roma and Inter Milan are all interested.

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However, the report states that Chiesa's net salary of $7.8million per year would be a major obstacle for those clubs, and that a loan deal with Liverpool continuing to pay some of his wages could be one option to get a deal over the line.

Chiesa was absent from the Liverpool squad to face Tottenham before Christmas due to illness, while he was an unused substitute against Leicester on Boxing Day.

Speaking at the end of November, Slot said that he hadn't entertained the prospect of offloading Chiesa in January, amid persistent reports in Italy that the club was considering doing exactly that.

“That (his exit) hasn’t gone through my mind at all,” Slot said. “The first and foremost is that he gets fit again, and then we can see where he is."

On Chiesa's performance on his return to the team against Southampton last week, Slot said: “I saw ups and downs. I saw some really good moments and I saw some moments where I felt like, ‘OK, you can do better than this’. For me, that’s completely normal if a player’s been out for so long, plays his first game in five or six months probably (three months).”

Chiesa was also recently linked with Serie A leader Atalanta, with TEAMtalk reporting that the club was considering a move in order to boost its chances of winning the Scudetto for the first time in its history, but his current salary was again mentioned as a possible stumbling block.