Liverpool’s bid for Crystal Palace captain Mark Guech fell over at the transfer deadline.
The Reds and their sports director, Richard Hughes, were doing everything they could, but Arne Slott was confident in their existing defensive options.
But that was before Giovanni Leoni was kicked out by Southampton for his Reds debut. Now he’s recovering most of the season.
How Liverpool replaces Leoni
Liverpool signed Leoni from Palma in Serie A for its first £26 million fee in August. The 18-year-old rarely appeared on his hometown’s senior stage, but he had enough promises to make a crowd of suitors bust overhead.
Leoni has developed within Anfield’s rank for the past month, styling skillsets and roles with in-field personality in the slot system.
It was sad to see that the young Italian was retracted in such visible pain and was disappointed with his first appearance for the Mersey Cider. He was impressed by Southampton and played most of the games and saw a cut above his partner Joe Gomez.
Giovan Nileoni’s Liverpool debut | |
|---|---|
statistics* | # |
I played a few minutes | 81′ |
touch | 102 |
The exact path | 88/91 (97%) |
Lost Ownership | 3x |
Tackle | 1 |
Intercept | 3 |
clearance | 6 |
The ground duel won | 1/2 |
A duel won | 3/3 |
Data based on sofa score | |
The options on the back of Liverpool are suddenly sparse, and slots may need to insert a potential gap towards the academy.
Naro could be a replacement for Leoni
The 18-year-old Naro was at the start of his Liverpool career and has already made his senior debut under the wings of the slots.
However, that ended somewhat unexpectedly as the teenager was sent off during Liverpool’s 2-1 defeat to Girona in the Champions League in January 2025.
Slot said Naro “learned” from his mistakes, but it’s certainly going to hurt at this start of his career, the otherwise impressive reel of highlights.
In fact, Naro was previously praised by West Ham coach Carlton Cole as “centre-back Rolls-Royce.” These traits are unique and can lead you to something worthy of a regular role in a team in a slot given your time.
In this example, time is not the time of Naro. Rather, the younger defender must prepare for a potential increase in importance as his rotation is limited after Leoni’s injury.
Nallo’s two feet suggest that he can fairly replace Vandic when he needs to, or manipulate from the right side.
Naro, poached by West Ham United as a youth, has already won 52 appearances for Liverpool’s development side – on top of its senior bow – he is now ready to take the plunge and regularly feature where Leoni stands.
After all, Slot has already handed over his professional debut to the youngsters, and it’s hardly a problem to leave the opportunity this season to him.
