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SportFootballLiverpool FCLiverpool defender Giovanni Leoni has sent a message to Liverpool as he continues his recovery from an ACL injuryGiovanni Leoni has sent a reminder to Andoni Iraola as the Liverpool defender prepares for his return to the squad. The Reds signed Leoni last summer from Italian club Parma in a £26million deal, but the young centre-back’s time at Anfield has mostly been spent on the sidelines.Leoni suffered an ACL injury on his debut for Liverpool in their Carabao Cup win over Southampton back in September, and has been in recovery ever since.The 19-year-old has been stepping up his recovery to full fitness in recent weeks, but was not part of the squad that travelled to the United States for Liverpool’s pre-season tour.It remains to be seen what Leoni will be able to return to the Liverpool squad, and the teenager has now sent a reminder to the club and to Iraola.In a post on his Instagram story, Leoni posted several photos of himself working on individual training, as well as another of someone standing on a clock.The Liverpool defender accompanied the post with a one-word caption, which read: “countdown”.Iraola was asked about Leoni’s recovery from injury during Liverpool’s pre-season tour in the US, and admitted that the defender is the closest to returning from the Reds’ long-term absentees."Right now we have different situations in terms of injuries,” Iraola said last month.
“The three that you said (Hugo Ekitike, Conor Bradley and Leoni) that are big, big injuries. It's taken them months to recover.FOLLOW OUR LIVERPOOL FC FACEBOOK PAGE!
All the latest news and analysis from Anfield on the Liverpool Echo's dedicated LFC Facebook page"And then apart from those three, we have Stefan [Bajcetic] and Wataru [Endo] that are close to getting to training with the group. We are talking about months and still a lot of time out.”Liverpool were without club captain Virgil van Dijk for the US tour due to the defender having an extended break following his participation at the World Cup with the Netherlands.Joe Gomez suffered an injury in the early minutes of Liverpool’s opening friendly against Sunderland, while Jeremy Jacquet did not feature in any of the three friendly fixtures in the US.Choose Liverpool Echo as a 'Preferred Source' on Google News for quick access to the news you value.Liverpool FCLiverpool FC injuriesGiovanni LeoniAndoni Iraola
