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Liverpool’s defeat against Crystal Palace in the Community Shield on Sunday once again highlighted why the Reds need to dip back into the transfer market.
It has been a busy summer at Anfield, with four potential starters arriving so far.
But with Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate on the pitch, there was not a single natural centre-back on the bench for Liverpool at Wembley.
This has been a problem during the last few weeks of pre-season, when Joe Gomez flew home from the tour of Asia with an achilles issue.
Liverpool are clearly trying to sign a centre-back to rectify the issue, and although fans are keen on Marc Guehi after his performance against them on Sunday, Parma’s Giovanni Leoni has become a concrete target.
And while delivering the latest update on Liverpool’s interest in Leoni on Sunday night, journalist Fabrizio Romano outlined exactly why the 18-year-old has come onto Richard Hughes’ radar.
Photo by Alessio Morgese/NurPhoto via Getty Images
If Liverpool do not bring in a new centre-back or even two over the coming weeks, then they are surely setting themselves up for failure.
Thankfully, it sounds as though the Reds are on it, and according to Romano, Leoni could turn out to be a ‘special’ addition at Anfield.
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“We follow Italian football and we know how special this kid is,” the reporter told The Here We Go Podcast.
“Probably the biggest young star we have in Italy in this position now.
“18 years old, but a very serious player, on and off the pitch, hard working, super professional, very talented, big room for improvement of course, very young.”
READ MORE: Crystal Palace chairman offers Liverpool Marc Guehi encouragement as fresh transfer talks scheduled
“He already played under pressure last season because Parma were competing to avoid relegation” Romano added.
“All these factors are making the difference, so let’s see if he’s going to be immediately a player for a super top club, but the talent is special and Liverpool have noticed how good he is.”
As well as providing a fairly detailed breakdown of what the kind of special talent Leoni is, Romano also provided an update on where the deal currently stands between Liverpool and Parma.
“What I can tell you today is that Liverpool are really, really considering as a special talent, Parma defender Giovanni Leoni,” he said.
“This kid is really special, born in 2006, very talented, did a very special second half of the season last year in Serie A under Christian Chivu who is now Inter manager.
“We have many reports about Inter, Milan, Juventus, all the top Italian clubs tried for Leoni but at the moment he’s very expensive for Italian clubs.
Liverpool started following the player and have started really building their interest in the boy.”
Romano does also report that Liverpool are still interested in a deal to sign Guehi, and it does seem a case of either or, rather than both of these players signing.
Many will prefer Guehi given his background in the Premier League and as an England international.
But when it comes to the higher ceiling, Leoni might just be an even bigger talent.
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