Massive injury blow to Liverpool – new signing out for the season

Liverpool’s spotless start to the season has been ruined by the injury suffered by their youngest new signing during the Reds’ 2-1 victory against Southampton in the Carabao Cup at Anfield Stadium.

Giovanni Leoni the 18-year-old Italian central defender made his debut along with Giorgi Mamardashvili in Liverpool’s midweek victory. Arne Slot was forced to substitute Giovanni Leoni after his uncomfortable fall as he was stretchered off the pitch. However, Leoni will now have to spend a prolonged period away from the field of play, having damaged his ACL.

Reputed football journalist Fabrizio Romano has now confirmed on his social media that Leoni damaged his ACL. Given the complex nature of the injury, it will be a race against time to expect Leoni to be back in action for Arne Slot this season. This could be a tricky period for the young defender who arrived at Anfield this summer with a lot of promise.

What was the discussion following the match?

Post the conclusion of the game, Liverpool gaffer, Arne Slot addressed the media and shed light on the injury sustained by Giovanni Leoni. The manager was certainly taken aback by the injury, but will now need to seek solutions elsewhere. Here is what Slot has been quoted as saying by the Daily Star –

“He’s down because for him it didn’t feel good immediately.

But this is something now we have to assess and normally these things don’t happen in five to 10 minutes, you have to wait until tomorrow to see how he comes in and then maybe do an MRI scan to know more.

“Normally the emotions of a player tell you a lot, I saw a player in the Dutch Eredivisie at the weekend who went out completely in tears and it proved to be that he was right (that he had suffered a bad injury), but let’s hope for the best.”

Defensive issues for Slot

Leoni cost the Reds £26 million and would have played a crucial role for Liverpool given the demanding fixture list. In the near future, the only options in the heart of Liverpool’s defence for Slot are Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez.

The boss will now need to rework his plans for the season and turn to alternatives within the squad at least until the winter window arrives. Among the current pool of players, Wataru Endo and Ryan Gravenberch have been slotted into central defence in the past.

The manager is keen on holding onto the Premier League title and will seek reinforcements in the transfer market. The Reds were left short-footed on the final day of the transfer window when Crystal Palace played spoil sport in the transfer of Marc Guehi.

Liverpool could realistically return for Guehi in January, given how stretched they are defensively. It remains to be seen if Liverpool are able to withstand the injury blow and continue marching on this season. They have also been linked with signing Barcelona’s Ronald Araujo but a move for Barca’s captain would likely break the bank and be very hard to pull off.

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