Liverpool defender Giovanni Leoni has insisted the hard part is now behind him as he recovers from a cruciate ligament tear.
Tuttomercatoweb cover comments from the Liverpool youngster today. He’s been speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport’s Sport Week about life at Anfield.
The 19-year-old joined Liverpool in a €31m deal from Parma in the summer. The plan had been for him to provide a much-needed back up option for Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate and develop carefully.
That, though, didn’t prove to be possible as the young defender suffered a cruciate ligament injury on his debut in the EFL Cup win over Southampton in September. Estimates expect him to be out until September this year with the injury.
It’s a major blow for him and Liverpool, who had very different plans for how his first season in England would go. He’s now focused on his recovery and admits he believes it will be all about mental strength.
“Now the hardest part is over,” he said.
“I’m doing rehab, swimming, and the gym. For a footballer, an injury like this can be the most difficult moment in their career, but now I just want to train my mind to come back stronger than before. I think that’s the key aspect: the mind can do most of the work.”
The injury is the first major set-back in Leoni’s career. He had previously only spent 45 days on the treatment table with ligament problems while at Parma.
That saw him miss the grand total of two games earlier this year. He says he knew immediately this blow would be a bad one, though.
“I immediately realized it was that kind of injury,” he added.
“It was a great, intense pain, the strongest I’ve ever felt. But I believe that life has certain things in store for me, and fate brought me to this. I tell myself: It must have happened to make me stronger.”