Liverpool confirm 29-man squad for Asia tour as Federico Chiesa absence explained

Chiesa

Liverpool have confirmed their squad for the pre-season tour to Asia with Federico Chiesa the most notable absentee.

The Reds have named a 29-man squad that boarded the plane on Sunday evening to jet out to Hong Kong for the first leg of their Far East sojourn.

And Chiesa has been left behind on Merseyside while a minor issue is assessed, despite scoring in the 5-0 behind-closed-doors friendly win over Championship side Stoke City at the AXA Training Centre earlier in the day.

It's another setback for the Italian forward, whose future has been called into question in recent months having struggled for minutes under Arne Slot since arriving from Juventus last August.

Alexis Mac Allister, who hasn't featured in a senior game since mid-May, is among the travelling party along with Alisson Becker and Luis Diaz, who are both yet to play during the warm-up programme.

New signings Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong, Milos Kerkez, Giorgi Mamardashvili and Freddie Woodman are all included.

Harvey Elliott and Tyler Morton, each given an extended break after helping England retain the UEFA European Under-21 Championship last month, are also in the squad.

Stefan Bajcetic, though, continues to recover from a hamstring operation in May.

Liverpool take on AC Milan in Hong Kong next Saturday before moving on to Japan where they will face Yokohama F Marinos the following Wednesday.

With no senior international tournaments this summer,

Liverpool have an almost full-strength squad from which to choose meaning that, unlike in previous years, there are limited slots for Academy players.

Rio Ngumoha, Ben Doak, Trey Nyoni and Luca Stephenson are among those to make the trip, along with new 20-year-old goalkeeper arrival Armin Pecsi and Academy shot-stopper Kornel Misciur.

James McConnell, though, misses out with a small injury niggle.

Jayden Danns is absent despite being fit, fuelling speculation he could make a loan move away from Liverpool this summer with Sunderland once again interested after the striker's scheduled temporary stay in the North East earlier this year was scuppered by injury.