Liverpool

Liverpool manager Arne Slot on the importance of veterans like Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez helping the injured Giovanni Leoni: "There are a lot of examples all around the world. The positive thing is that he is still 18 and he has a lot of time to go.

"The main and most important thing is the surgeon that will do the surgery and then the ones that do the recovery and rehab with him. It's always nice if you can do this in the surrounding with players that have lived through this as well.

"They can give you the right energy in certain moments and I think are players have already showed in the last two days a lot of compassion towards him and they won't stop doing that."

Liverpool

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Liverpool manager Arne Slot on Rio Ngumoha signing his first professional deal: "The good thing is, if you're a youngster playing at Liverpool, there are players that you are playing with that are still better than you are and I think that helps you stay grounded and know there are still steps to make.

"If you are playing for a club at a lower level and you are as good as Rio, maybe you belong to the best players in the team and that can lead to maybe a situation where he isn't as grounded as he should be but here that is not a problem at all.

"He is a player that constantly wants to improve but if you train and play with players like Cody Gakpo, Mo Salah and Federico Chiesa - I think he feels there is still a step to make. If he is at their level then it's about being as consistent as these players are and that is the most difficult thing.

"To become really good is something a lot of players maybe can do but be consistently really good is why the top players stand out."

Liverpool

Liverpool manager Arne Slot was asked if the team's 100% record has surprised him: "Surprise is maybe too strong to say but if you'd have asked me to play Newcastle away, Arsenal at home and all these difficult games that we would have the maximum results then I would sign for that straight away.

"Most of them were quite close and we might have been a bit lucky to get the maximum points but we work incredibly hard, and if you work as hard as we do then you give yourself a chance to be a bit lucky.

"I don't think we stole a win. It's not like we totally haven't deserved it but there were games where draws maybe would have been more fair."

Liverpool

Liverpool manager Arne Slot on Crystal Palace and the biggest threat they have: "They have an enormous discipline defensively. Ten outfield players plus a goalkeeper that work so hard to stop the other team scoring.

"We saw is also in the Community Shield, even in the moments we were up - they could still be so disciplined and calm. We saw this against Southampton too and how hard it is to play through them.

"They have individual quality and individual players who are a big threat. Mateta is one of them, Sarr who wasn't available last week was really good against us in the Community Shield and good centre-backs and good wing-backs.

"The discipline in their defensive work stands out for me."

Liverpool

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Liverpool manager Arne Slot was asked if Hugo Ekitike has been "disciplined" following his sending off: "If disciplined means that I spoke to him but then it's disciplined but I don't think that. Disciplined means a fine and that he didn't get.

"It wasn't very smart what he did and what he recognised himself immediately. He said sorry to his team-mates straight away. He's young and players of all ages make mistakes. That's what he did but he we all mistakes and you are allowed at this club to make a mistake without immediately getting fines.

"He is a fantastic human being and I think if you talk to all the staff members and ask them the top three of the warmest person and most polite, I think he is in every staff member's top three. Even if he wasn't he is able to make a mistake.

"It wasn't smart, it didn't hurt us on Tuesday evening but it might hurt us a bit more tomorrow. The positive thing is, Federico Chiesa is showing himself at the moment so it's a chance for him now to be on the bench and maybe play minutes with Hugo not being there."

Liverpool

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Liverpool manager Arne Slot on Marc Guehi: "I don't think one day before we play them, talking about that again - he is a Crystal Palace player and he has been very important for them as long as he has been there.

"We have to prepare for Crystal Palace who are a very good team. I think they haven't lost 17 games in a row now and he is part of that team.

"They are a difficult team to beat but we are also a difficult team to beat. As we've shown when we played against each other because we have beaten them once 1-0 and twice it was a draw.

"We have more than enough options to replace, if needed, a player at the centre-back position."

Liverpool

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Liverpool manager Arne Slot was asked if Alexander Isak is ready to start: "He is able to make minutes again but playing 90 depends on the pace and the intensity of the game. It might be a bit too much, not only for that but also for the long-term.

"You can give a player maybe one stupid hit to bring him to 90 but I don't think it is smart to play him 90 yet.

"He is further into his pre-season now and normally after two or three weeks in a pre-season, players go to 60-70 minutes. Some clubs bring them to 90 but if you look at our pre-season, we mainly bring them to 60 or 70."

Liverpool

OK, the Giovanni Leoni news was literally the first thing Arne Slot said.

He also suggested that the injury means Federico Chiesa will now be added to the Champions League squad.

Let's get back to the Liverpool boss's news conference and we've also got more from Fabian Hurzeler and Eddie Howe to bring you, too.

Only time will tell, Sonny, but for Giovanni Leoni's sake, you've got to hope he is able to get back to the level he was at before this injury.

The good news for him is that, unlike in years gone by, there are plenty of examples of players suffering ACL injuries and returning to reach the same or even higher levels.

He only has to look at a couple of his Liverpool team-mates. Florian Wirtz was also 18 when he suffered an ACL injury and he came back to help Bayer Leverkusen win the Bundesliga title in an unbeaten season.

Then there is Virgil van Dijk. He was out for close to a year with an ACL injury suffered in 2021 but returned and was imperious in leading the Reds to the Premier League title last season - he's still playing as well as ever now.

Daniele Verri, Italian football journalist

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Speaking to BBC Radio Merseyside after Giovanni Leoni's signing for Liverpool, Italian football journalist Daniele Verri sung the praises of the defender: "Leoni is very strong in the air and he's a technically gifted player as well.

"He can come out from defence and start building from the back, but he's obviously at his most impactful in the air.

"A couple of big clubs in Italy, including AC Milan and Inter Milan, were also after him, so I didn't expect a bold move from a Premier League club so early, to be honest. But Liverpool put the money on the table - probably even a bit more than Parma were originally asking for.

"Who wouldn't fancy playing at Anfield? I think any player would be happy to join Liverpool - and, of course, the Premier League, which is the most entertaining and attractive league in the world right now.

"I would have loved to see Giovanni join a big Italian club before moving abroad. But that's football - the market is open. If a club like Liverpool comes in with 30m euros plus bonuses, it's difficult to turn down such an offer."

"It will be difficult for him to start regularly - he knows that - but I don't think that's a major problem at his age," Verri added.

"Having the opportunity to be part of such a strong squad and play alongside great players, especially someone like Van Dijk, is a huge opportunity."

Giovanni Leoni had made his senior professional bow for Padova in March 2023, with that milestone coming just three months after his 16th birthday.

He spent the second half of the 2023-24 campaign on loan at Sampdoria in Serie B – featuring a dozen times and scoring once before signing for Parma permanently last summer.

The teenager has also represented Italy at youth international level, making seven appearances for his country’s U19s to date, and was called up to the senior squad for the first time earlier this month.

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Before the confirmation of Giovanni Leoni's ACL injury, we looked at the options available to Liverpool at centre-half.

Aside from the first choice pairing of Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate, the Reds only have Joe Gomez as a true senior option to step in.

Rhys Williams, who spent last season on loan at League Two side Morecambe is the only other "natural" centre-back on the books.

Andy Robertson and Wataru Endo have both filled in at centre-back on the odd occasion while star midfielder Ryan Gravenberch could also drop back if needs must.

Sophie Brown
BBC Sport

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Giovanni Leoni only made his senior debut in 2023, playing in the Italian third tier for Padova as a 16-year-old, but just two years later he has joined the Premier League champions.

Liverpool were looking for reinforcements in central defence after selling Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen in the summer and Leoni came in to provide extra cover in an area where the Reds were potentially light.

With Virgil Van Dijk now 34, Liverpool need to have an eye on the future. Eighteen-year-old Leoni certainly ticks that box but also looked ready for the now, despite only establishing himself in Parma's starting line-up in the second half of last season.

With just 14 top-flight starts under his belt, he has not played as much as fellow highly rated teenage centre-backs Pau Cubarsi at Barcelona, Mamadou Sarr at Strasbourg or Real Madrid's Dean Huijsen, but his stats are impressive.

At 6ft 5in (1.96m) he is exceptional in the air, ranking in the top 10% for aerial duels won in Serie A last season.

At Parma, Leoni played in the middle of the back three or as the right centre-back and, as well as his aerial strength, he is also composed in possession, especially given his lack of experience.

The opportunity to develop his game with the Premier League champions and learn from Van Dijk, who he has previously called his inspiration, helped clinch the move.

He had to be patient before being given a chance against Southampton but looked every bit the exciting prospect that Liverpool fans were promised before his terrible injury cut his debut short.

A cruel blow but the Reds will hope the £26m signing can return next year and go about fulfilling his immense potential.

Liverpool

Liverpool manager Arne Slot on Giovanni Leoni: "He is not in a good place because he tore his ACL which means he will be out around a year.

"Being so young and coming to a new country and playing so well in your first game, it's very hard to take the positives.

"There is never a positive side but you try to look at that and that is that he is still so young and he has so many years still go to after he recovers from a terrible injury."

Liverpool

Liverpool boss Arne Slot is here and confirms that centre-back Giovanni Leoni has torn his ACL and will be out for "around a year".

A huge blow for the 18-year-old, who had looked so good on his debut against Southampton.

Newcastle United

Newcastle boss Eddie Howe on Jacob Ramsey: "His recovery is going well and he is on the grass working hard and building his fitness back up.

"The plan was that he would [be back] for the first game after the international break ahead of us and if it is any earlier than that then of course he is ahead of schedule."