Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola says that he hopes that Giovanni Leoni starts training with the first team during the next international break, admitting there has been a ‘little bit of a delay’ in his recovery from a serious knee injury he sustained over a year ago.
Leoni expected to return to training in November international break
Liverpool spent a fee of €35m plus add-ons to sign an 18-year-old Leoni from Parma in the summer of 2025, impressing after making just 17 appearances in Serie A the season before, but he is still waiting for his career in the Premier League to get off the ground after suffering a major knee injury on his first appearance for the club.
He was handed his Liverpool debut under Arne Slot in an EFL Cup third round clash against Southampton last September, but was carried off on a stretcher in the 81st minute and has not appeared for the club again since then.
Iraola has been able to provide an update on the teenage centre-back during his pre-match press conference ahead of Liverpool’s next Premier League match against Brentford.
He admits that Leoni’s injury was ‘not just an ACL’ and that there has been ‘a little bit of a delay’ in his recovery, but says that he hopes to have the 19-year-old back in first-team training during the November international break.
“It’s taking more time than we wanted,” Iraola admitted. “The planning was to train with the team in this past international break [but] probably it’s going to be in the next international break, so we’ve lost one month in the process.
“Giovanni’s injury, I wasn’t here but talking to the medical department, it was not just an ACL – it was a bad injury, a lot of things around the knee were involved apart from the ACL.
“He has to be very confident, the rehab process has to be very careful with him and we want to make sure once he comes to the team, he stays there in a good place.
“It’s true that we’ve had, not a setback, but a little bit of a delay, if you want.
“The plan now is he starts in the next break. It’s not that far but it’s a little bit later than we expected, yes.”