Iraola says Leoni will return to Liverpool training in November after knee setback
Iraola confirms delayed comeback for €35m defender
Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola has given an update on Italy international Giovanni Leoni ahead of the Premier League clash with Brentford, saying the 19-year-old centre-back will miss the current international break and is now targeted to rejoin first-team training in November.
Leoni arrived at Anfield in the summer of 2025 from Parma for a reported €35m plus add-ons after 17 Serie A appearances the previous season. The 18-year-old at the time was handed his Liverpool debut under Arne Slot in an EFL Cup third-round tie against Southampton last September, but was carried off on a stretcher in the 81st minute and has not featured for the club since.
‘Not just an ACL’
Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Iraola said the recovery is taking longer than planned and that the injury was more extensive than initially understood.
“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.”
Iraola, who was not at the club when the injury occurred, said medical staff have explained the severity of the damage.
“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.”
The coach stressed caution is required to ensure Leoni can stay with the group once he returns.
“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.”
New target set
Iraola confirmed the revised plan is for Leoni to start training with the first team during the next international break.
“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.”
The delay means the teenage centre-back, who is still waiting for his Premier League career to get off the ground more than a year after the injury, will not be available for selection in the immediate run of fixtures.