Harvey Elliott's comments speak volumes as Liverpool team-mate to miss out on title medal
Liverpool are inching ever closer to their second Premier League title after moving 13 points clear of Arsenal at the top of the table, leaving one senior player in a tense race against time
Federico Chiesa is in serious danger of missing out on a Premier League winners' medal, and could do with taking a page out of Harvey Elliott's book. The Italy international, who joined Liverpool from Juventus in the summer, has made just three appearances in the league this season, and needs two more to qualify for a medal automatically.
Premier League rules state that players must play five times over the course of a season to be eligible for winners' medals. However, clubs are given 40 in total, and are at liberty to hand them out to whoever they like provided all players with five or more appearances have received one.
When Liverpool won the title back in 2019/20, Elliott was three appearances short of earning a winners' medal. But the midfielder reacted to the setback with the utmost professionalism.
After being teased on social media about the situation, with one user telling him: "Lol no medal must suck so much," Elliott replied: "It's not about me lad. It's about the team. And I'm over the moon for them all to be receiving one. They deserve it more than anything so I'm going to celebrating as a supporter with the fans."
Ultimately, Elliott, now 21, had the last laugh as he was given one of the club's extra medals. However, he'll no doubt be eager to earn one outright, and he'll do exactly that if Liverpool clinch the title this term, having made 10 league appearances so far.
The Reds are 13 points clear at the top of the table, and while second placed Arsenal have a game in hand, their lead looks insurmountable, particularly with the Gunners dropping points in their last two games. It means Chiesa is now in a nervy race against time to reach five appearances before the end of the season.
The 27-year-old has been struggling with injuries since moving to Anfield, but has found game-time hard to come by even when fit, particularly with Mo Salah - who plays in Chiesa's preferred right wing spot - producing such scintillating form. It hasn't been any easier getting minutes on the left, with Luis Diaz, Cody Gakpo, Curtis Jones and Diogo Jota all vying for the spot too.
Chiesa was an unused sub in each of Liverpool's last four league games, and was left out of the previous two entirely. More concerningly, he's racked up just seven minutes of Premier League action since September, having made just a couple of late cameos against Brentford and Ipswich last month.
Of his 10 Liverpool appearances in all competitions, just three have been starts. He's also only completed 90 minutes once - during the Reds' 3-2 defeat to PSV in the Champions League last month.
Chiesa isn't the only senior Liverpool player on the verge of missing out on a winners' medal. Jayden Danns, who has played in both the Premier League and Champions League this season, is four appearances short of one, and won't earn any more after being loaned out to Sunderland.
Reserve goalkeeper Vitezslav Jaros also needs four more, but with both Alisson and Caoimhin Kelleher now fit, getting game-time will be tricky. Others like Trey Nyoni, Tyler Morton and James McConnell, who have each played multiple games in other competitions, are five game short in the league, and look unlikely to qualify.
Should he fail to earn a medal, Chiesa wouldn't be the first big-name player to miss out in recent years. Kalvin Phillips managed just four league games for Manchester City last season, while the same thing happened to Cole Palmer, now at Chelsea, in 2021/22.