Credit: imago

Chris Smith

Fri 15 August 2025 8:00, UK

Liverpool have strengthened their defence with the addition of the talented Giovanni Leoni from Parma.

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Though the Reds are yet to formally announce the deal, manager Arne Slot confirmed during his press conference on Thursday that an agreement had been reached between the two clubs — believed to be £26million (BBC).

Of course, Liverpool will still be targeting more senior defensive reinforcements, with the push for Marc Guehi ongoing.

But for now, supporters can start getting excited by the addition of an 18-year-old wonderkid with bags of talent

Leoni (L) and Konate (R) compared defensively in 2024/25 league play (Credit: FotMob)

Despite his tender age, Leoni — who won’t make his Liverpool debut this weekend — is not without experience.

The teenager has 33 senior club appearances under his belt for Padova, Sampdoria and Parma combined, making a real breakthrough with the latter last season.

Leoni made 17 Serie A appearances for the Crusaders in 2024/25 and, impressively, 13 of them came during the final 16 matches of the campaign — with Parma losing just two of the final nine as they managed a 16th place finish, avoiding relegation.

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Three of Parma’s seven clean sheets in Serie A last season were with Leoni in the side, picking up 15 of their 36 points in the 1,205 minutes he was on the pitch.

While Leoni’s data is slightly skewed by his age and lack of overall minutes, he does perform well in several key defensive metrics — including 4.64 clearances per 90 minutes and 1.12 interceptions, compared to 4.39 and 0.60, respectively, for new teammate Ibrahima Konate (FotMob).

In addition to his growing club achievements, Leoni has played eight times for Itay across U18 and U19 levels to date, while also being called up for the U21s — though he his yet to debut at that level.

Football Insider verdict

Giovanni Leoni is an exciting signing for Liverpool (Credit: Imago)

While Leoni is one for the future, he may get more football this season than he first thought.

For starters, current third-choice centre-back Joe Gomez is still recovering from an ACL injury and has a poor fitness record across his career so far.

Couple that with Virgil van Dijk now being 34 years old, and you can easily see the youngster being brought in from time to time to help rest the Liverpool captain.

What’s more, despite their best efforts, Liverpool may now miss out on Marc Guehi this summer.

The Palace man recently captained the Eagles to Community Shield glory against his potential new club.

But despite being eager to make the switch, Guehi might have to wait until next summer when his contract expires, with Crystal Palace digging in on their £40m valuation.

All of this could open the doors to a productive 12 months at Anfield for Leoni, once he officially completes his switch from Italy.

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