Liverpool believe they have pulled off an almighty coup. In fact, they think they are signing the best young defender on the market.
Parma wanted £35million for Giovanni Leoni but a deal has been done for around £25.8m, with the player jetting in for a medical to become a much-needed addition to what was becoming a centre back department lacking in depth.
The 18-year-old will challenge the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate the currently injured Joe Gomez, and there is huge excitement at the Premier League champions. Confidential has spoken to sources both on Merseyside and in Italy to try to paint a picture on what the Premier League champions are getting for their money.
‘He's a commanding defender, with a strong physique,’ Serie A expert Eleonora Trotta, who has watched Leoni closely, tells us. ‘He has good technique. Good with his feet and in setting up the game. Someone here compared him to Alessandro Nesta.
'The fee is not a small sum. He has very few appearances in Serie A (17, all last season for Parma), but being very young he can certainly explode. No one in Italy has ever considered spending more than €25m (£21.5m) on him so we will see if that becomes a regret.
‘Of course, the club with the biggest regret is Inter, who, a year ago, could have bought him for €7m (£6m). Cristian Chivu was undoubtedly instrumental in his career. We're talking about a serious, mature, and very self-aware young man.
‘I know his yes to Liverpool was immediate: he really wanted to experience England.’
Chivu, the legendary former Inter Milan centre back and 2010 Treble winner, was Leoni's boss for all of four months at the end of last season, but made a huge impact in keeping them up in Serie A. So much so that Champions League finalists Inter poached him when Simone Inzaghi left for Saudi Arabia this summer.
The glowing references keep coming for Leoni, and the next one does not get much better. Here's one of the godfathers of Italian football, the legendary AC Milan manager Arrigo Sacchi, who wrote in Gazzetta dello Sport yesterday: ‘I am convinced he’ll be the lynchpin of the Azzurri defence for a long time.
‘Some, regarding a possible transfer to Liverpool, object that this young man has only made 17 Serie A appearances so far. Aren’t those few? No, I reply. Not few, because on those occasions Leoni has demonstrated the qualities needed to go far.
‘If someone is good, if someone has their head in the right place, it’s immediately obvious. A person can have 200 Serie A games under their belts and still not possess the qualities Leoni displayed in his first season as an adult. Talent knows no age.’
Another icon of calcio, Andrea Pirlo, who coached Leoni as a kid at Sampdoria, said last year: ‘If someone had doubts about starting him from the first minute, I had none. I see him every day in training. He played as a mature youngster, he will become a strong footballer.'
Leoni is 6ft 5in but fast, adept in possession and can battle attackers like he has years of experience. When studying footage of him, Daily Mail Sport watched the teenager against Napoli, the eventual Scudetto winners last season.
He was marking Romelu Lukaku and bullied the 32-year-old like he was 14 years his senior, not the other way around. He covered his front post well, dominated in the air and made some important recovery runs in the 0-0 draw, which was a great result for relegation-threatened Parma.
Sources in Italy say he is in line to be fast-tracked to the national team senior squad - he has yet to play for the Under 21s.
And speaking of the national team, he was born five months after the Azzurri won the 2006 World Cup - so he has never, somehow, seen them play a knockout match in the biggest tournament of all. With Leoni at the back, that could soon change.
What’s the latest on Guehi deal?
Crystal Palace know that Marc Guehi is keen on moving to Liverpool and the clubs are confident a deal can be struck, despite the fact chairman Steve Parish is keen to drive a hard bargain.
Parish, remember, openly admitted on Sunday that the best realistic option for Palace is to sell their captain – though they want more than the £35m quoted figure.
Champions Liverpool have been keen on him for some time as trailed by Daily Mail Sport, and any deal for Guehi is separate to a move for Leoni.
There is, naturally, a chance that he stays at Palace to see out the final year of his contract – but at this stage a move seems the best option for all parties. If not, Liverpool would still be at the front of the queue for his signature when his contract does expire.
Hughes could still raise £80m from sales this summer
All the attention has been on Liverpool’s £295m outlay this summer, with more to follow if and when they sign attacking reinforcements or new centre back(s) – but they could still raise a fair sum from sales.
So far this summer, the champions have recouped £190m in sales with money coming in for Darwin Nunez, Luis Diaz, Caoimhin Kelleher, Jarell Quansah, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Tyler Morton and Nat Phillips.
But futures remain uncertain for Harvey Elliott, who they value as high as £50m, plus young Scottish winger Ben Doak, the man once described as ‘like a Tasmanian devil’ by Van Dijk.
Elliott has admirers at RB Leipzig and Crystal Palace, while Brighton and West Ham had previously registered an interest. The Hammers are also keen on Doak alongside Wolves and Leeds, while local rivals Everton scouted the young Scotsman last season.
Sources in Italy reckon Federico Chiesa will return to his homeland in the final weeks of the window though Liverpool would not want to sanction his exit before sourcing replacements in attack.
Kostas Tsimikas is another who will be allowed to leave. Nottingham Forest were keen earlier in the summer and retained that interest, though Leeds have now cooled their pursuit after signing left back Gabriel Gudmundsson from Lille.
And then there is Stefan Bajcetic, the little Spaniard who did so well in Jurgen Klopp’s penultimate season only to be hampered with injuries thereafter. He had two loans last season, one unsuccessful (RB Salzburg) and one a success (Las Palmas).
It is understood Celta Vigo hold a genuine interest in signing him but there is nothing at this stage to say whether Liverpool want to sanction an exit or not. This time last year, it is believed Arne Slot told Bajcetic the plan was for him to reintegrate into the first team if he can prove his fitness and ability out on loan.
Gomez on comeback trail but Bradley further away
Liverpool were dealt a minor blow in their new season preparations last week as captain Van Dijk spent five days in bed with a virus.
This was before the Dutchman played a full 90 minutes, his first of pre-season, in the Community Shield defeat.
But it was not ideal preparation for the game – and that could be given as an excuse for his below-par performance in the meeting with Crystal Palace.
Arne Slot has been boosted, however, by the return of Joe Gomez, who is back in training after missing three weeks with an achilles injury and could make the bench against Bournemouth on Friday night.
Conor Bradley is not fit enough to make the squad yet, while Ryan Gravenberch is suspended after being sent off on the final day of last season at home to Crystal Palace.
Tell us about Isak!
We know what you are all thinking, readers. Come on, give us an Alexander Isak update!
The truthful answer is that there is not one other than: Liverpool remain mad about Isak and Isak remains mad about joining Liverpool.
If Newcastle sign a striker (maybe the next seven days will be key in this), then Liverpool will surely have the belief to move forward.
Although it feels like a long-running saga that has been stuck with a stalemate for some time, the next update will be a big one: Liverpool will not make that second bid without encouragement… so if they do then maybe, just maybe, a deal will be done.
Youngsters get set for moves
James McConnell completed his first minutes of pre-season this week with an hour for the Under 21s – and the highly rated midfielder is set to be allowed to leave on loan next week with Ipswich and West Brom circling.
The 20-year-old midfielder, who trained with the first team this week, was blocked from leaving on loan in January on request of Arne Slot, who wanted to keep him around for midfield depth. But after an injury over the summer, he is ready to leave on his first temporary move.
McConnell has self-belief that he can break into the XIs at top-end Championship clubs such as the two mentioned above, while Bundesliga sides and Derby have also posted an interest in signing him this month.
Futures still need to be solved for Jayden Danns, Lewis Koumas, Luke Chambers, Calvin Ramsay and Kaide Gordon – all five had loans last season and interest is building ahead of similar moves, or permanent exits, in the next three weeks.
Why Liverpool did not pursue Barcola move
It only takes a spark to start an inferno and that was the case when L'Equipe suggested recently that Bradley Barcola and Liverpool was a relationship in waiting.
Barcola is a wonderful talent, the kind of teenager who you can be sure will be making waves in the biggest games for many years to come. He more than played his part in helping Paris St Germain sweep the board last season.
The inference was that £100m would be the magic number to get PSG to do business with Liverpool, particularly if they had to admit defeat in their attempt to land Aleksander Isak (for clarity, you need it: they haven't).
There is no doubt Barcola is recognised as a fabulous player by Liverpool's recruitment team - a blindfolded man in a pitch black room with no windows could see that - but he won't be reporting into Merseyside any time soon.
The reason? Rio Ngumoha. Liverpool absolutely will not block their prodigy's path and he will sign his first professional contract at Anfield when he turns 17 on August 29 - it will be some of the most important business Liverpool have done all summer.
So while Barcola is thrilling, Liverpool won't for a second entertain lavishing a nine-figure fee on him when they believe they have a young man who could, in time, be headed right to the very top.
Mabaya's hard luck
Young right back Isaac Mabaya has experienced a horrific start to life on loan at Wigan Athletic — and his spell with the Latics could be over already.
He joined the club on August 1 but was stretchered off on Tuesday in their game with Notts County and faces a long period on the sidelines.
Confidential understands he is already back in Liverpool and being assessed by club doctors at the AXA Training Centre.
Kop Kids: Page hired for his ‘realism’
Liverpool begin their Premier League 2 campaign on Monday night away at Leicester – and that means it is a first competitive outing for Rob Page as manager.
Confidential was told this week that Page was hired for several reasons but the main one is his background as a senior boss, which will give the youngsters a sense of realism to get them ready for men’s football.
Page, of course, had a four-year stint in charge of Wales and steered them to Euro 2020 qualification after taking charge midway through the campaign and then led them to their first World Cup since 1958.
He also took them within a penalty shootout of Euro 2024 qualification and championed promoting young players to the fold. Owen Beck and Lewis Koumas, both on Liverpool’s books, are two who have recently become fully fledged internationals.
The Anfield hierarchy liked the look of Page given his youth development across his career – he has also managed the Wales Under 21s, Port Vale and Northampton – and see him as the perfect fit to bridge the gap between youth and senior football.
Meanwhile, former Liverpool Under 21s boss Barry Lewtas has a new job after leaving the club this summer.
He has joined the England setup where he will work under Ben Futcher and Tom Huddlestone for the Under 20s, while also taking charge of the Under 16s on a caretaker basis.
Jota’s first club honour him with stand name
Diogo Jota’s first professional club paid a stellar tribute to him in their season opener at home last weekend.
Pacos de Ferreira welcomed fans into the freshly named Diogo Jota Stand after members voted to rebrand a section of the ground in July.
Supporters in an array of Pacos, Liverpool, and Portugal shirts stood to applaud Jota in the 18th minute, honouring the shirt number he wore.
A source at the second-tier Portuguese side told Mail Sport: ‘We did this to perpetuate Jota’s name in our stadium. Also, it was thanks to his sale to Atletico Madrid that we were originally able to build the stand.’