The legendary Italian manager Arrigo Sacchi has approved Liverpool's movement for Parma's teenage defender Giovanni Leoni and has tipped him to become the future of their national team.
Daily Mail Sport reported on Tuesday that the Premier League champions performed their interest in the 18-year-old defender.
Leoni is expected to cost around £ 35 million, whereby the deal is not connected to Liverpool's striving for Crystal Palace Captain Marc Guehi for a similar fee.
The Italy U19 has only played 17 times in the Serie A, but the Reds transfer department can be found much of Leoni and are ready to pursue a movement to sign it.
Liverpool's interest in Leoni, a 6ft 5 central defender, comes after the Reds previously chased Lenny Yoro, Jorrel Hato and Dean Huijsen while looking for a long -term successor to Captain Virgil van Dijk.
Their interest in Leoni has been praised by Sacchi, who led AC Milan to the 1988 Series and Back-to-Back European Cups.
Sacchi rejected concern about Leoni's lack of exposure to the first team football and emphasized that the teenager has already shown that he has the talent to perform at the highest level.
“We will see if the deal will take place, but at least I would say that the Reds would make a great move by signing this young man, which I followed with interest and curiosity in the second half of last season,” wrote Sacchi in Gazzetta Dello Sport.
'I am convinced that he will be the Lynchpin of the Azzurri defense for a long time.
'Some people, with regard to a possible transfer to Liverpool, object that this young man has only made 17 Serie A appearances so far. Are those few not? No, I answer. Not few, because on those occasions Leoni has demonstrated the qualities needed to go far.
'If someone is good, if someone has his head in the right place, it is immediately clear. A person can have 200 Serie A matches under his belts and still do not have the qualities that Leoni has shown as an adult in his first season. Talent has no age.
“Let us also give him the chance to make mistakes. At eighteen some errors are expected and can be forgiven. And in any case, Leoni won't make much. He is a tough guy who has already learned the fundamental lesson, keeps your head down and work hard. '
Sacchi added that although Liverpool's interest in Leoni made him 'very happy', he was angry that the Italian giant AC Milan, Inter, Juventus and Napoli were not challenging for his signature.
Leoni only came to Parma last summer in a deal worth a first £ 4.3 million from Sampdoria, who had activated an option of £ 1.3 million only a few months earlier to make a loan from Padova permanent.
The teenager had played under former Italy -international Andrea Pirlo in Sampdoria, during his Stint who was in charge of the B -side series.
Just like Sacchi, Pirlo had rejected concern about the defender with in the first team at a young age and supported him to become a star of the future.
“If anyone had doubts about starting him from the first minute, I didn't have one,” Pirlo said in March 2024.
“I see him in training every day. He played like an adult young person, he becomes a strong football player. '