LIVERPOOL, England (AP) — Liverpool manager Arne Slot confirmed on Thursday an agreement reached with Parma to sign teenage defender Giovanni Leoni.
Slot, however, refused to discuss any potential deal for another center back — England international Marc Guehi — and said any comments would need to come from his club, Crystal Palace.
The 18-year-old Leoni previously played for Padova and Sampdoria before impressing at Parma after joining in the offseason of 2024. He is an Italy Under-19 international.
“The clubs have agreed (on) a deal but he hasn’t signed for us yet,” Slot said of Leoni, “so the moment when he signs for us, I can go into more detail.”
On a possible deal for Guehi, who has one year left on his contract at Palace, Slot was more circumspect. He didn’t mention the player’s name specifically but did say “unfortunately he was the captain of the team who we lost against last Sunday” — referring to Liverpool losing to Palace in the Community Shield on Sunday.
“If you want to have any talks about him, you should go to Palace and (manager Oliver) Glasner and ask his opinion about it,” Slot said at a news conference ahead of the first match of Liverpool’s Premier League title defense, at home to Bournemouth on Friday.
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