What are the pros and cons for Barca if they sign Chiesa?

Photo by Image Photo Agency/Getty Images

Do we want another injury prone ace...

It would appear that all signs are pointing towards Barcelona signing Federico Chiesa in the last days of the summer transfer window.

The 26-year-old isn’t wanted at Juventus - which should already have set the alarm bells ringing - and he’d arrive as a cheaper alternative to Nico Williams.

Once again, Joan Laporta’s promises seem to have been a load of hot air, and that’ll do him no end of harm when elections are due again, though that’s another story entirely.

Looking at the situation objectively, what are the pros and cons to landing Chiesa at this point in time.

Clearly, his injury record has seen to it that there isn’t a queue of suitors for his services.

Photo by Matteo Ciambelli/DeFodi Images via Getty Images

Since the 21/22 season he has suffered from muscle fatigue on three separate occasions, knee problems on three occasions, muscular problems on two occasions, two unknown injuries, tendon irritation, a hamstring injury and a cruciate ligament tear, keeping him out for a total of 420 days (transfermarkt).

On that basis alone, Barca should be treading very carefully indeed.

Furthermore, although he is classed as a winger, he’s not quite in the same mould as Williams, in that the Athletic Club man is adept at going inside or outside and beating his marker for pace.

Chiesa might be considered to be more of an attacking midfielder in terms of his style, and Barcelona already have plenty of them.

Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images

On the plus side, he is a regular for the Italian national team and so has the requisite experience at both international and club level to bring to the table.

Furthermore, an average of a goal every four games throughout his career isn’t the worst, and given that he’s still only 26 years of age, there’s plenty of football for him to play in his career yet, and Barca could therefore see the best and most productive years of his career.

The real issue for Joan Laporta is whether he’s buying Chiesa just for the sake of it and giving culers some sort of peace offering for failing to land Nico Williams, and the real issue for Hansi Flick is whether he’s better than what the coach already has in situ in Chiesa’s position.

At worst, the signing would be a gamble that goes horribly wrong, with the aforementioned injury problems resurfacing.

At best, Barca get themselves a low-cost, experienced attacker who knows where the goal is and is also adept at servicing his colleagues via a decent number of assists.

Source: barcablaugranes.com