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Liverpool are close to signing Giovanni Leoni(Image: Luca Amedeo Bizzarri/Getty Images)

Liverpool are closing in on an agreement worth £26m for Parma centre-back Giovanni Leoni, to take their summer spending soaring past the £300m mark.

Leoni, it is understood, will go straight into the first-team set up to provide competition for a place alongside captain Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez, who is on the comeback trail after an Achilles issue was detected during the Hong Kong leg of the Reds' pre-season tour of Asia.

The teenager made 17 appearances for Parma last season and had been wanted by his former coach Cristian Chivu at Inter after the Romanian coach succeeded Simone Inzaghi, who left the Champions League finalists to move to Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal.



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Anfield chiefs initially thought Inter were leading the chase but the Reds firmed up their interest in recent days and are now on the cusp of an agreement with the Serie A side.

Liverpool's sporting director Richard Hughes has been in contract with his Parma counterpart Federico Cherubini and a deal between the two clubs is now understood to be close after further talks on Wednesday.

Add-ons will be part of the package of an initial deal worth £26m.

Hughes, who grew up in Italy and played for Atalanta's youth team in the early 1990s, is known in football circles for his depth of Serie A knowledge and bulging contacts book in Italian football and a deal for Leoni would be the Reds' second addition from the league in successive summers having signed Federico Chiesa 12 months ago from Juventus.

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“Liverpool would make a great signing, and he could thrive in the Premier League," said Italian legend Arrigo Sacchi, writing in his Gazzetta dello Sports column.

On the one hand, the news makes me immensely happy, and on the other, it makes me a little angry.

“Let me explain – I’m happy that an Italian player is receiving praise from a major club like Liverpool, but I wish AC Milan or Inter, Juventus or Napoli were competing for his transfer, not a foreign club.

"I'm told Italian teams don't have the same financial resources as English clubs.

Absolutely true, but I add - why hasn't the football product been exploited here like in England?

Why is it so complicated to buy a €40m defender for an Italian club, and yet Liverpool doesn't flinch?

“We’ll see if the deal goes through, but in any case, I feel like the Reds would make a great coup by securing this boy, whom I followed with curiosity and interest in the second half of last season.

"Leoni is only 18, and I’m told he’s a decent guy, hard-working, humble, and very determined.

I’m convinced he’ll be the linchpin of the Azzurri (Italy national team) defence for a long time."

Liverpool have been searching for a centre-back of a younger profile for the last two summers having initially wanted Chelsea's Levi Colwill on the back of his season-long spell with Brighton in 2023.

Last year, Lille defender Leny Yoro opted for Manchester United amid additional interest from Real Madrid, while the Spanish giants triggered Dean Huijsen's £50m release clause at Bournemouth in June.

Meanwhile, talks remain ongoing with Crystal Palace for their captain Marc Guehi, whose potential move to Anfield is being viewed as independent of the long-term search for a younger centre-half.

Leoni, should he complete a move, will become the eighth signing of the summer after deals for Jeremie Frimpong (£29m), Florian Wirtz (£116m), Milos Kerkez (£40m), Armin Pecsi (£1.5m), Freddie Woodman (free), Hugo Ekitike (£79m) and Giorgi Mamardashvili, whose £29m transfer from Valencia was agreed last year.

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Leoni's potential arrival will take the Premier League champions' summer spending, inclusive of add-ons, to £320.5m, with over £190m recouped on the sales of Trent Alexander-Arnold (£10m), Jarell Quansah (£35m), Caoimhin Kelleher (£18m), Nat Phillips (£3m), Tyler Morton (£15m), Luis Diaz (£65.5m) and Darwin Nunez (£46m).


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