Liverpool’s failure to sign Marc Guehi on deadline day overshadowed their addition of Giovanni Leoni from Parma. The teenage centre-back made the move to the Premier League champions last month, which was a huge show of faith in a player with limited top-flight experience. Leoni, after all, has just 14 senior career league starts to his name.
And even they came in a Parma side that operated in a ‘defence-first’ approach under then-boss Christian Chivu. By contrast, Liverpool dominated on their way to Premier League glory as only Manchester City(61.6%) averaged more possession than the Reds (57.9%) in Arne Slot’s debut campaign at Anfield.
Away went the heavy metal football under predecessor Jurgen Klopp, and in came a more measured approach under the Dutchman, who so often looked to his centre-backs to instigate attacks from the back. Indeed, first-choice pairing Virgil van Dijk (79) and Ibrahima Konate (66.5) ranked first and second for passes per 90 of all Liverpool players in the Premier League last season, and we can expect similar this time around.
The issue will be, then, how Leoni transfers his game from Serie A to the Premier League, and specifically from a pragmatic style of play to a moredominant one. To his credit, Leoni was one of the better distributors for Parma last season, with 46.3 passes per 90 the third most for the Italian side of those to manage more than 10 league outings.
Using the same parameters, a 88.7% pass accuracy also ranked third for Parma, so he’s clearly able to get the ball rolling, so to speak. Doing so for a Parma side on the backfoot is a completely different kettle of fish to a side of Liverpool’s stature, however. It’s part of the reason why the Reds were so keen on Guehi, the England international an expert distributor who boasts the requisite Premier League experience to successfully make the move from Palace to Liverpool.
What does stand out about Leoni, though, is his physical standing. Even at 18 years of age, the Italian is an absolute powerhouse with clips of Leoni outmuscling sizeable frontmen Dusan Vlahovic and Romelu Lukakuin Serie A last season a case in point. The young centre-back has the physique to adjust the rigours of Premier League with ease evident in that he managed a modest 63% aerial success rate in Serie A this season, and would come in handy when Liverpool are on the backfoot against more direct opponents.
Able to play in a centre-back partnership or in a three-man backline, Leoni also affords Slot greater flexibility with his setup if needs must. The Reds boss may rarely line up with a three-man defence, yet it’s a handy weapon in his arsenal. Nevertheless, Leoni is still incredibly raw and needs time to develop. Learning the tricks of the trade under a centre-back of Van Dijk’s calibre will serve the teenage defender in fine stead and at his age, he still has time to develop, both physically, even at 6’5’, and mentally. That he came close to committing as many fouls (11) as he made tackles (14) in Serie Alast season, further serves to show how he needs to better manage his standing.
Additionally, with Van Dijk now 34 and Konate out of contract next summer, and subsequently linked with a move to Real Madrid, Leoni has a huge 12 months ahead of him. Van Dijk will be 35 by the time next season starts, and his centre-back partner may have already departed for pastures new.
As the Premier League nears its return following the international break, Van Dijk, Konate and Joe Gomez are the only senior central defenders on the books at Anfield following Jarell Quansah’s move to Bayer Leverkusen, and the latter pair have had their fair share of injury problems in the past. As such, Leoni could be handed a baptism of fire, especially if he is thrust into action against Premier League powerhouse and Europe’s heavy hitters in the Champions League.
Even so, Leoni excelled when deployed in the Parma starting XI. Facing down the likes of Napoli and Juventus didn’t faze Liverpool’s summer signing, and nor should adjusting to the Premier League. Liverpool’s defence will need a revamp before long, and Leoni is one of the first pieces of a new-look puzzle at Anfield.