Liverpool have confirmed that Giovanni Leoni is out for about a year after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, an injury sustained on his debut against Southampton in the Carabao Cup third round on Tuesday. The 18-year-old defender joined Liverpool in August from Parma for a fee of £26 million plus add-ons.
Slot said the diagnosis leaves him with a difficult recovery period to navigate. 'He tore his ACL which means he will be out around a year,' Slot said. 'There is never a positive side, but you try to look at that, and that is he is still so young and has many years ahead after he recovers from this terrible injury.'
The setback leaves Slot with only three recognised centre-backs in Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez. Liverpool have added forward Federico Chiesa to their Champions League squad in place of Leoni. The side have started the season by winning all five of their Premier League matches and travel to Crystal Palace for Saturday's league game at Selhurst Park.