Arne Slot has confirmed that Giovanni Leoni will spend a year on the sidelines after suffering a torn ACL during his Liverpool debut in midweek.
The 18-year-old defender saw his dream start turn into heartbreak on Tuesday night at Anfield. He impressed against Southampton in the Carabao Cup, but his outing was cut short in the 81st minute after landing awkwardly from a challenge. Medical staff rushed to assist him, and he left the pitch in visible discomfort.
Further tests have now revealed the severity of the injury. Slot delivered the grim update during his press conference at the AXA Training Centre.
“He is not in a good place, of course, because he tore his ACL and it means he will be out for a year,” Slot revealed. “Being so young and coming to a new country and playing so well in your first game… it’s very hard to take the positive side.
“There’s never a positive side – but you always try to look at a positive side and that is that he is still so young, so he has so many years still to go after he recovers from a terrible injury like that.”
He added: “I think that last thing definitely helps and we have some examples of that with Virgil [van Dijk] and Joe [Gomez], and there are a lot of examples all around the world.
“That’s why I said the positive thing is that he is still 18, so he still has a lot of time to go. If you get an injury like that when you are close to your retirement it makes it much more difficult maybe. But in both situations it’s far from ideal.
“I think the main and most important thing is the surgeons that are going to do the surgery, then second of all the ones that do the recovery, the rehab, with him.
“But then it’s always nice if you can do this in a surrounding with players who have lived through this as well, they can give you the right energy maybe in certain moments.
“And I think our players already showed in the last two days a lot of compassion towards him and they will not stop doing that in the upcoming year.”
The injury is a cruel setback for Leoni, who joined from Parma this summer and had looked set to make a mark. Liverpool fans will now have to wait until 2026 to see the young defender in action again.
Toosin is a dedicated sports writer with a strong background in crafting engaging and insightful content. With experience at Goal, he has developed a sharp editorial sense and a refined storytelling approach that brings depth and perspective to sports journalism. His passion for the game goes beyond the headlines, as he captures both the excitement of the sport and the compelling human narratives behind each event. Toosin’s work resonates with a broad and diverse audience, making global sports stories accessible, relatable, and impactful.
