Liverpool Seals Deal for £30 Million Defensive Star as Arne Slot Announces Major Signing

Liverpool boss Arne Slot has verified that an agreement is in place to acquire 18-year-old defender Giovanni Leoni from Parma.

Reports surfaced on Wednesday indicating Liverpool had reached terms on a €35 million (£30.2 million, $41 million) transfer for Leoni following his impressive debut campaign at Parma, where he made 17 Serie A appearances and netted one goal.

Leoni is scheduled to arrive at Liverpool on Thursday for his medical examination and to complete the transfer, with Slot indicating he would provide additional details once the deal is finalized.

"Both clubs have reached an agreement, but he hasn't put pen to paper yet," Slot explained during Thursday's media briefing. "Once he officially signs, I'll be able to elaborate further."

Slot was also questioned regarding a potential pursuit of Crystal Palace's Marc Guéhi, who enters the final year of his deal and could be available for transfer if contract extension talks fail in the upcoming weeks.

"My standard response remains the same," the Liverpool manager replied. "Can I elaborate further? No, he's not under our contract, regrettably he captained the side that defeated us [in the Community Shield].

"If you wish to discuss him, speak with [Oliver] Glasner and Palace directly."

Strengthening the center-back position became a crucial objective for Liverpool after Jarell Quansah's move to Bayer Leverkusen, leaving Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konaté and Joe Gomez as Slot's sole experienced choices. Gomez's injury-plagued pre-season has heightened the urgency for defensive additions.

Gomez is approaching full fitness though, and Slot indicated the English defender could potentially feature on the substitutes' bench for Friday's Premier League season opener versus Bournemouth.

"That decision is still pending, he's missed significant pre-season time, only trained twice since the Palace match with two young players, so there's a chance he could make the bench."