The Liverpool defender looks set for a spell on the sidelines after suffering injury during his debut against Southampton this week.
Amie Wilson Central Audience Writer
07:42, 25 Sep 2025
Liverpool defender Giovanni Leoni suffered an injury on his debut for Liverpool vs Southampton. (Image: Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
Liverpool players have rallied around teammate Giovanni Leoni following confirmation of a serious knee injury. The defender went down in the final minutes of his debut in the Carabao Cup clash against Southampton on Tuesday night.
He was stretchered off the pitch, and Arne Slot admitted that the injury didn’t look good. On Wednesday, the ECHO reported that there are fears that he has suffered a serious knee injury and is set for an extended spell on the sidelines.
Following the news, the 18-year-old has taken to social media to release a statement. “I want to sincerely thank every single person who has shown me support in this difficult moment,” he wrote on Instagram.
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“It wasn’t the debut I had always dreamed of, but I will give everything to be back playing in this magical stadium as soon as possible. Thank you so much!”
Liverpool teammates flooded the replies to lend their support to the teenager. Fellow summer signing Florian Wirtz wrote: “You’ll come back stronger,” along with a 100 and red heart emoji.
Alexander Isak, who scored his first Reds goal midweek, responded with a red heart and bicep emoji. Jayden Danns, Conor Bradley, Ibrahim Konate, Andy Robertson, Stefan Bajcetic and Liverpool’s official account also posted red heart emojis.
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Club captain Virgil van Dijk replied with a red heart, a bicep, and a fist pump emoji. Rio Ngumoha responded with two praying and one red heart emoji.
Others showed their support by ‘liking’ the post. Hugo Ekitike, Jeremie Frimpong, Alisson, Milos Kerkez, Giorgi Mamardashvili and Wataru Endo were among those in the likes.
Liverpool aren’t putting a timescale on Leoni’s injury and recovery, but it is understood that medical staff are fearful of it being a serious injury with the length of his absence expected to be a number of months rather than weeks. Slot will give an update during his press conference on Friday morning.
It means that Liverpool will have just three fit senior centre-back options to choose from for their Premier League clash against Crystal Palace on Saturday. The Reds travel to Selhurst Park for the 3pm kick-off.
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