Patience with Giovanni Leoni is about to pay off, and Italy’s boss clearly agrees
There has been a lot of noise around Liverpool’s defence this season, but one of the more encouraging developments has slipped under the radar. Giovanni Leoni is closing in on a return, and the man in charge of Italy has just gone out of his way to talk him up.
Roberto Mancini was asked about the next generation of Italian centre-backs and made it plain that he sees Leoni among them. He acknowledged that matching the country’s legendary defenders is a tall order, but said Italy have good players to work with. Behind the established pair of Alessandro Bastoni and Giorgio Scalvini, he picked out three or four other options, and named Leoni alongside Palma and Ahanor as someone who will be “a great defender” for him.
A rapid rise through the Italian ranks
Leoni’s journey to Anfield has been quick, even by modern standards. His family moved to Padua when he was five, and he passed through Vigontina San Paolo and AS Cittadella before settling at Padova. He worked his way through their academy and was handed a senior debut in Serie C in March 2023 at just 16. When a coach trusts a centre-back that young in men’s football, it usually says something about his physical maturity and his head for the game.
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Sampdoria came calling in February 2024 and he made 12 Serie B appearances during a brief stint there. Newly promoted Parma took him that August, and he went on to play 17 times in Serie A, scoring once. That goal made him the youngest defender in Parma’s history to find the net in the top flight. Liverpool moved for him in August 2025, before his value had the chance to climb any higher.
The setback that froze his progress
The plan was obvious. Bring him in, give him cup minutes, and let him grow into the squad. His debut duly arrived against Southampton in the Carabao Cup in September 2025, and it ended with him suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Just like that, a development season became a rehabilitation season.
We cannot overstate how costly that is for a young defender. You can do all the work you like in the gym and on the training pitch, but positioning, timing and the confidence to organise a back line come from playing real matches. Leoni has had none of that.
Why Liverpool are right to go slowly
The good news is that he is now expected back in full training after the November international break. Liverpool will ease him in rather than throw him into every session from day one, and that is the correct call with a knee injury of this kind. There is also the option of getting minutes under his belt with Rob Page’s Under-21s before he is considered for the first team.
It is worth remembering that his return has already slipped more than once, with late September and then mid-October both passing by. Nobody should be in a hurry now. What Liverpool need is a fit, available centre-back, not a feel-good comeback story that ends in another setback. If Leoni gets through the next few weeks cleanly, that will be a result in itself.
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