Giovanni Leoni faces delayed Liverpool return after rehabilitation setback postpones training until November.
Liverpool FC
Liverpool FC
Full name: Liverpool Football Club Nickname: The Reds Founded: 3 June 1892 Ground: Anfield Owner: Fenway Sports Group Chairman: Tom Werner Head coach: Andoni Iraola League: Premier League Season 2025-26: 5th rank Website: liverpoolfc.com Liverpool Football Club is in the… Read More about LIVERPOOL
Liverpool boss Andoni Iraola has shared an update on Giovanni Leoni, and the injury news brings a small delay. The defender has been out for more than a year with a serious knee problem. His return to first-team training is now planned for the November international break.
Why Giovanni Leoni return has been pushed back
As reported by Liverpool’s official website, Leoni hoped to join first-team training during the last international break. That target has now moved to the November recess, as Liverpool continue to protect his knee. The centre-back tore his ACL on his debut against Southampton in a Carabao Cup tie in September 2025. He has spent the past year working with the medical staff at the AXA Training Centre. He has not played competitive football since that night at Anfield.
The delay is only one month on the calendar, but it follows a long and careful rehab. Liverpool signed the Italian from Parma in 2025, and he has yet to play a Premier League game. If he returns in November, he will be about fourteen months on from his debut.
What Iraola said about the knee injury
As reported by The Guardian, Iraola admitted on Thursday, before the Brentford game, that recovery is “taking more time than we wanted”. The head coach joined after the injury, so he relied on the medical department’s account. He called it a bad injury, since several parts around the knee were involved besides the ACL.
Iraola said Giovanni Leoni must feel very confident, so the recovery process has to stay careful. The club wants him to stay in a good place once he is back in first-team training. Iraola rejected the word setback and called it a small delay to the plan. He added that the new start is not far away, though it is later than expected. Iraola helped bring on Dean Huijsen and Illia Zabarnyi at Bournemouth, so he has a record with young centre-backs. That experience should help as Leoni works his way back.
Liverpool
What the delay means for Liverpool
Liverpool are right to be patient, because a knee that returns too early can fail again. Another long layoff would hurt the progress of a young defender with just one match for the club. Rejoining first-team training is only the first step, since match sharpness takes time to rebuild. Premier League football demands quick decisions and strong duels, which no amount of rehab work can fully recreate.
Iraola deserves credit for being honest about the new date instead of leaving fans to guess. Return dates in rehab are targets rather than promises, and admitting a miss shields the player from outside noise. That openness also gives Liverpool room to rebuild his workload slowly, with little pressure to hit the November target.
Iraola wants a high-intensity side, and that asks a lot of centre-backs over a long season. Liverpool already have Virgil van Dijk, Jeremy Jacquet and Ronald Araujo at centre-back, so Leoni can wait. Jacquet joined from Rennes and has been in strong form. Araujo arrived after Ibrahima Konate left for Real Madrid. Depth matters most when a starter needs rest, and Leoni could become a useful option later. For now, November is the date to watch, and his first-team sessions will show how the knee copes.
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