Giovanni Leoni and Jeremy Jacquet will both be eyeing a first-team spot next season after the departure of Ibrahima Konate. If Andoni Iraola has spent his first few days as Liverpool head coach by scouring his players' social media accounts, he'll have been pleased with what he saw from Leoni.
While the majority of the Reds' players are jetting off on summer holidays or in action at the World Cup, the Italian uploaded a photo of himself entering the AXA Training Centre for what appeared to be more work recovering from the cruciate knee ligament injury he sustained on his Reds debut back in September. It is fanciful to claim that blow, suffered in the Carabao Cup third round clash against Southampton, was where Liverpool's season started to go wrong, but it was a cruel end to an excellent debut from the talented teenager.
For the Reds to be robbed of him as an option for the entire season, especially after failing to sign Marc Guehi, was unwelcome. That is why the positive words from Arne Slot on Leoni in April were welcome. “If you look at Giovanni Leoni, I don’t know if you once in a while see some Instagram posts from the club, this guy becomes a beast!” said Slot, discussing the recovery of a 19-year-old he'll now have only ever picked once for Liverpool.
That is still one more time than he'll have picked Jeremy Jacquet. The young French defender will now forever be known as Slot's final signing for Liverpool, having joined the club in a £55m deal from Rennes last winter, agreeing to complete his move in the summer. Jacquet, who is 21 next month, now enters, and Leoni returns to, a Liverpool squad managed by Iraola and minus Ibrahima Konate, who has left a large hole in defence after departing following the expiration of his contract.
Both young defenders should see this as a huge opportunity, particularly as Iraola has previous when it comes to developing young centre-backs. Dean Huijsen was 19 when Iraola's Bournemouth picked him up from Roma in the summer of 2024, and all he needed was a season under the manager's guidance before he became a £50m Real Madrid centre-back, earning the Cherries a hefty profit on the near £15m they paid for him. Meanwhile, Iliya Zabarnyi was 20 when a pre-Iraola Bournemouth signed him from Dynamo Kyiv in January 2023. He played five times under Gary O'Neil before two seasons under Iraola during which he missed just three Premier League games. Last summer, Zabarnyi joined Paris Saint-Germain for £57m, and he's now a European champion.
As he showed in attacking positions last season, Iraola doesn't flinch when it comes to trusting young players. If Leoni and Jacquet can get themselves up and running under the new manager, they have a great chance to establish themselves at the back alongside captain Virgil van Dijk. Liverpool will want them to mature under Iraola just like that Bournemouth pair did. Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain might then come knocking again, and if they do, the new head coach will have done a fine job with the two of them.
