Liverpool handed extra Giovanni Leoni transfer incentive

Liverpool handed extra Giovanni Leoni transfer incentive - but loan exit makes no sense

Liverpool are looking to sign Giovanni Leoni from Parma with the Reds set to bolster Arne Slot's options at centre-back

Giovanni Leoni of Parma Calcio 1913 during the pre-season friendly match between Werder Bremen and Parma Calcio at Parkstadion Zell Am Ziller (Image: 2025 Parma Calcio 1913)

Liverpool have been handed an extra incentive to sign Giovanni Leoni from Parma. The Reds are looking to strengthen their centre-back options after selling Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen earlier this summer.

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The ECHO reported on Tuesday that Liverpool were poised to step up their interest in Leoni as a result . But that is not all as the Reds have also opened talks with Crystal Palace over a potential £35m deal to sign Marc Guehi .

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Should Liverpool be successful in their pursuit of Guehi, he would also bolster their current homegrown options. Clubs are permitted to name a maximum 25-man squad for Premier League and European action and are limited to naming no more than 17 overseas players.

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Arne Slot currently has six homegrown players in his first-team squad in Joe Gomez, Conor Bradley, Curtis Jones, Harvey Elliott, Freddie Woodman and Jeremie Frimpong. Guehi would add to that quota and class as ‘association-trained’ for European competition.

With the England international a well-documented long-term target, it is no secret that such homegrown status would be seen as an additional perk should the Reds indeed sign the defender.

But the arrival of Leoni could also actually benefit Liverpool’s homegrown quota in the long-term.

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The Italian is still only 18 years old and, as a result, still young enough to qualify for homegrown status in English football.

To earn such status in the Premier League, a player must have been ‘registered with any club affiliated to The Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons, or 36 months, before his 21st birthday (or the end of the season during which he turns 21).’

By joining Liverpool this summer, Leoni would earn such status by the end of his third season with the club. In the meantime, he would not have to be registered as he would be classed as an Under-21s player.

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Meanwhile, he could actually also earn club-trained status for European competition, with players qualifying if they are on a club’s books for three entire seasons or 36 months between the ages of 15 and 21.

Alternatively, Leoni could instead earn association-trained status should he join the Reds but spend any of the next three seasons on loan to another club in the same association.

It is also worth noting that while the teenager would qualify as an Under-21s player and not need to be registered to feature in the Premier League over the next three seasons as a result, it would be a different story in European competition.

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To qualify for a place on ‘List B’, reserved for Under-21s players, a player must have been eligible to play for their club ‘for any uninterrupted period of two years since his 15th birthday by the time he is registered with UEFA – or for a total of three consecutive years with a maximum of one loan period to a club from the same association for a period not longer than one year.’

Consequently, if Liverpool wished to select Leoni in the Champions League this season or next season, he would still need to be selected in their 25-man squad.

However, should he complete both campaigns at Anfield, he would then be eligible for a place on ‘List B’ in his final year as an Under-21s player in 2027/28 before obtaining homegrown status in 2028/29.

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After it emerged that the Reds were stepping up their interest in Leoni, there had been contrasting reports claiming that the Italian could remain with Parma for the 2025/26 season before joining up with Liverpool. After all, the club struck a similar deal with Valencia when agreeing to sign Giorgi Mamardashvili last summer.

But such a move would make little sense to the Reds if they have one eye on Leoni earning homegrown status in England.

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Admittedly, it would not be a decisive matter when it comes to whether Liverpool move to sign the highly-rated defender or not. Future homegrown status would be an additional perk more than anything.

Meanwhile, things can obviously change very quickly in football. The Reds signed Calvin Ramsay in the summer of 2022 from Aberdeen when the full-back was still only 18 years old, knowing he would earn homegrown status if he completed three seasons in England.

Instead, the Scotland international was plagued by injuries and ended up forfeiting such a status by spending the second half of last season on loan back in his homeland with Kilmarnock.

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But with Liverpool playing the long game when it comes to bolstering their centre-backs ranks, having tried in recent years to recruit a highly-rated prospect with bags of potential, they now look set to put such a plan into action.

Liverpool have been left disappointed in their pursuits of Levi Colwill, Leny Yoro and Dean Huijsen in recent years, when pursuing a player who could arguably be lined up as a potential long-term successor for Virgil van Dijk.

While the Reds captain, who recently celebrated his 34th birthday this summer and signed a new two-year contract back in April, will leave the biggest boots to fill when his Anfield career comes to an end, succession-planning will very much be part of the thinking when it comes to Liverpool’s pursuit of Leoni.

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And with the Reds thinking long-term when it comes to their pursuit of the Italian, that possible future homegrown status will act as the cherry on top of the cake when weighing up the highly-rated defender’s credentials.

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