Newcastle United are said to have made an offer for Giovanni Leoni but he preferred a move to Liverpool.
Parma chief executive Federico Cherubini has explained why the club sold Giovanni Leoni to Liverpool.
The centre-back joined the Reds last month in a deal worth an initial £26 million plus add-ons. Leoni is only aged 18 and has been signed with an eye for the future. But he moved to Anfield having gained himself a burgeoning reputation in Italy.
Last season, he played 17 times to help Parma keep their Serie A status after promotion from the second tier. The highlight for Leoni was a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw against champions Napoli, in which he marked Romelu Lukaku.
Numerous clubs were linked with the defender, including Napoli and Inter Milan in his homeland, as well as Manchester United. And Cherubini revealed that Premier League rivals Newcastle United lodged a bid that was higher than Liverpool’s - but Leoni wanted to join the Premier League champions.
“We even turned down an offer from Newcastle, which was more advantageous than the one Liverpool eventually made,” the Parma CEO said Gazzetta di Parma.
“When the Reds came forward, our plans changed: both because the offer was very attractive and because Giovanni made it clear he was very happy to take advantage of this opportunity.
“On the one hand, it’s obviously disappointing to have lost such a promising player, but on the other, there’s pride in a club like ours and recognition for those who believed in this boy in unsuspecting times, when he’d only played a few games in Serie B.”
Leoni is still to make his debut for Liverpool and was left out of the match-day squad for the 1-0 victory over Arsenal before the international break. But he is a player that head coach Arne Slot holds in high regard and believes the fee that the Reds paid is evidence.
Slot said: “If you look at his transfer fee, you can expect that he is already quite grown up for his age – and that is exactly what I saw. He comes in as an 18-year-old just playing with his new teammates as if he is here for longer. Impressive; if you look at how tall he is, fast and comfortable on the ball.”
“There is a reason why we paid the transfer fee we did, because we see him as a bright prospect. Is that good English? And he has already had three good sessions. It also tells you something about the team. If you come to this club, if you come into this team, you feel at ease from the start because it’s a very good and nice group to start your Liverpool career in.”
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