The teenage centre-back Liverpool PREFER to Marc Guehi

Liverpool missed out on signing Marc Guehi on transfer deadline day.

Sporting director Richard Hughes left it late to formalise the club’s bid for the Crystal Palace captain. And as a result of the FA Cup holder’s failure to source a replacement, they called off the £35m deal at the 11th hour.

That transfer miss has in turn had a big impact on Liverpool’s season.

Although the Premier League champions added £450m worth of new players in the summer window - the failure to land Guehi could have the most transformative effect on Arne Slot’s side.

Without him there is no real alternative to Ibrahima Konate - whose form has been on the slide all season. And the club cannot change easily to a back three - given they have only three senior fit centre-back options.

Liverpool had Leoni ahead of Guehi

Liverpool added Giovanni Leoni for £26m from Parma earlier in the summer - but the 18-year-old was injured on debut. The Italian suffered an ACL tear against Southampton in the EFL Cup and is not expected to play again this season.

Accordingly Arne Slot has no choice but to stick with Konate and cannot utilise a back three either due to a lack of depth beyond Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez.

And now it’s emerged that Liverpool always had Leoni in mind as their first-choice centre-back over the summer - despite a pressing need to sign a Premier League-ready option.

According to a report in the Times from Liverpool insider Paul Joyce, the teenager was always ahead of Guehi in the pecking order for the Reds’ recruiters.

Leoni was ALWAYS the favourite

“They obviously like Marc Guéhi, whose proposed £35million move collapsed on deadline day when Crystal Palace could not sign a replacement, but the priority centre-back signing for the summer was Parma’s Giovanni Leoni,” the report reads.

“The 18-year-old Italian is out for the season after suffering an ACL knee injury on his debut against Southampton in the Carabao Cup.

“Talks on Guéhi were initiated on August 10 when the teams met at the Community Shield before going quiet until August 30. The deal was then on and then off again.”

Let's hope Leoni recovers well

Given that Leoni was always going to be a project - with only 17 top-flight appearances behind him when he signed - it is perhaps a surprise to learn Liverpool’s centre-back hitlist.

It surely would have been more sensible to prioritise the signing of England international Guehi - who is well-established as one of the best defenders in the Premier League.

At 25, Guehi still has his best years ahead of him - and it now looks like a risk to pay slightly less for an unproven teenager rather than a sure bet in Guehi.

Let's hope Richard Hughes' faith in Leoni pays off long term and he can fulfil the promise he showed at Parma.

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