Liverpool set to complete Giovanni Leoni transfer imminently

(Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Liverpool are closing in on a permanent deal to sign Parma’s highly-rated young centre-back Giovanni Leoni.

That’s the word coming from Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg, with the 18-year-old said to be willing to join Arne Slot’s outfit ‘with immediate effect’.

This comes as the Reds also look to complete a deal for Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi.

Liverpool closing in on Giovanni Leoni summer transfer

There was understandable concern in some quarters that after beginning the summer window well, Liverpool would leave themselves short in several departments.

Superb moves to replenish the fullback positions – with deals for Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong – have highlighted how bare we currently look at centre-back following Jarell Quansah’s move to Leverkusen.

Likewise, up top, the departures of Darwin Nunez and Luis Diaz leave Liverpool with only three senior attackers.

However, the club are now looking to rectify the former issue. Florian Plettenberg reports on X (formerly Twitter) that the Premier League champions have ‘reached a full verbal agreement’ with Leoni.

🚨🧨 BREAKING | Understand Liverpool have reached a full verbal agreement with Giovanni #Leoni! The super-talented 18 y/o centre-back wants to join Liverpool with immediate effect. Negotiations with Parma advanced. #LFC want to sign two more centre-backs before Deadline Day if… pic.twitter.com/EzJNexxJy9 — Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) August 13, 2025

More to the point, a deal with the club side is also understood to be ‘close’. As Ben Jacobs reports, we could finalise a move within the next 24 hours.

Why do Liverpool want to sign Leoni?

Liverpool were reported to be interested in Leoni and amongst several suitors from the Italian top-flight after a promising opening campaign in senior football.

The potential signing of Guehi, assuming an agreement can be struck, will provide us with the depth we desperately crave.

However, we’re under no illusions that the England international, talented as he is, is a bona fide Virgil van Dijk successor.

The hope, in that particular department, may very well lie with Parma’s 6′ 5″ behemoth, Giovanni Leoni.

He’s already attracted attention for his remarkable ability on the ball, being able to break lines with a pass. The Italian has been just as impressive out of possession, too, winning a good chunk of his duels on the ground and in the air.

But there’s still room for improvement on that latter point, as the stats from DataMB would indicate.

Let’s give Serie A’s most exciting young defender time to grow

It should really be emphasised that we’re signing a player with only 17 senior appearances to his name – well under the 150 or so our recruitment team tends to look for.

Leoni is going to be coming to a new league and environment with limited experience, so he’ll need plenty of time and guidance to hit the kind of heights we hope he can reach in football.

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