OFFICIAL: 18-year-old Parma defender Giovanni Leoni joins Liverpool for £26m fee

Parma defender Giovanni Leoni has signed for Liverpool, taking their summer transfer spend over £300m.

Liverpool will pay a fee of £26m plus add-ons for the 18-year-old, who has signed a six-year contract and becomes the club's sixth major signing, with their business now totalling £321.5m in paid transfer fees so far.

That is currently the third-biggest transfer outlay from a Premier League club in a single window.

If Liverpool complete a deal to sign Newcastle striker Alexander Isak, which could cost well above £100m, then the Reds could become the biggest summer transfer spenders of all time.

Liverpool, though, have recouped over £200m this summer by selling seven players for fees, including £65m for Luis Diaz, £56.6m for Darwin Nunez and £35m for Jarell Quansah.

The Reds saw off competition from elite Italian clubs and Premier League sides for Leoni, who was adamant his choice was a move to Arne Slot's Premier League champions.

Leoni will join the first-team set-up for this season, with any suggestion of a loan move completely ruled out. He will attend Liverpool's season opener at Anfield against Bournemouth, live on Sky Sports.

Liverpool were targeting reinforcements at centre-back following the departure of Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen, with Ibrahima Konate entering the final year of his deal at Anfield.