Fabrizio Romano confirms Liverpool move to replace Giovanni Leoni

Liverpool are making a move to replace Giovanni Leoni as confirmed by Fabrizio Romano.

It was the news no one wanted to hear on Wednesday afternoon. Leoni's ACL tear is a massive blow to Liverpool and the Italian's start to life at Anfield.

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Things had begun so brightly against Southampton. Leoni produced a phenomenal performance that got all the supporters excited.

However, his night ended in heartbreak with the teenager forced to be carried off the pitch on a stretcher.

Further scans revealed that he suffered an injury that will see him miss most of the season - if not all.

The goal now is for Leoni to be back in action towards the end of the campaign and fit and ready for pre-season in 2026.

Until then, Liverpool have to make alternative plans and the club is already working on it.

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The Reds will have to think about entering the transfer market in January. They had already wanted to sign another centre-back with Marc Guehi being courted last summer.

Perhaps that is a move they could look to advance. There are other options as well and Richard Hughes will be carefully assessing the best course of the action in the coming months.

Until then, Liverpool will have to find a replacement for Leoni internally.

Especially in the Champions League squad, where the Reds are allowed to replace him with another player after the serious injury that he had suffered.

But who might that be?

Well, Liverpool do not have many other centre-back options. Rhys Williams, who hasn't played for the club in over four years is probably the only player who could come in to replace him.

He sat on the bench against Southampton in the Carabao Cup and has been playing regular football for the club's U21 side.

There are academy players like Wellity Lucky and Carter Pinnington who are able to be registered to Liverpool's B team.

So, this means Liverpool are going to be replacing Leoni with an attacker instead.

Fabrizio Romano confirmed on X that the Reds' plans are to replace the Italian with Federico Chiesa in their Champions League squad.

It's a plan that makes sense. Chiesa should have been in the squad in the first place. He absolutely deserves it.

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