Arne Slot Confirms Liverpool Agreement to Sign New £30 Million Defender

Giovanni Leoni is expected at Liverpool on Thursday to undergo a medical.

Liverpool are adding more depth at centre back / IMAGO /Propaganda Photo

Liverpool manager Arne Slot has confirmed a deal has been struck to sign 18-year-old centre back Giovanni Leoni from Parma.

It emerged on Wednesday that Liverpool had agreed to pay €35 million (£30.2 million, $41 million) to sign Leoni after his breakout season at Parma, which yielded 17 Serie A appearances and one goal for good measure.

Leoni is due at Liverpool on Thursday to undergo a medical and finalise his move, after which Slot promised to shed more light on the deal.

“The clubs have agreed a deal but he hasn’t signed,” Slot told Thursday’s press conference. “The moment he signs I can go into more detail.”

Giovanni Leoni is heading to Liverpool. / IMAGO/ABACAPRESS

Slot was also asked about a possible move for Crystal Palace’s Marc Guéhi, who is in the final year of his contract and will be made available for transfer if he does not agree to an extension in the coming weeks.

“The same answer I always give,” the Liverpool boss responded. “Can I talk more? No, he is not our player, unfortunately he was the captain of the team we lost against [in the Community Shield].

“If you want to talk about him, go to [Oliver] Glasner and Palace and ask them.”

Bolstering at centre back was a key priority for Liverpool following the departure of Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen, which left Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konaté and Joe Gomez as Slot’s only senior options. Gomez has missed most of pre-season through injury, further amplifying the need for reinforcements.

Gomez is nearing a return to action, however, and Slot confirmed the Englishman may make it back to the bench ahead of Friday’s Premier League opener against Bournemouth.

“I have to make a decision on that, he missed a lot of pre-season, trained twice but the Palace game, two teenagers, so there is a possibility he might be on the bench.”

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