Crystal Palace and Liverpool opened Marc Guehi talks this week, with Parma defender Giovanni Leoni edging closer to finalising his move to Anfield
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot
Liverpool head coach Arne Slot has provided a transfer update(Image: Crystal Pix/MB Media/Getty Images)
Liverpool have agreed a deal worth an initial £26 million with Parma to sign Giovanni Leoni. The Reds have beat Italian giants and fellow Premier League clubs to the central defender.
Leoni, 18, will now have a medical on Merseyside before becoming the club's ninth signing of this summer transfer window. As reported by the ECHO earlier this week, it is understood that the Italy under-19 international will be part of Arne Slot's first-team squad this season.
The Reds have, however, missed the Premier League's deadline to register him in their squad for the clash with Bournemouth, which passed at 12pm on Thursday.
Leoni will become the first central defender Liverpool have signed in four years, dating back to the arrival of Ibrahima Konate. Ben Davies, Jarell Quansah, Joel Matip, Nat Phillips and Sepp van den Berg all left the club permanently without any replacements during that period.
Therefore, the Reds opening talks with Crystal Palace over signing Marc Guehi is no surprise, although the clubs have yet to agree on a fee for the centre back. They want the England international to join Joe Gomez, Konate, Leoni and Virgil van Dijk as options to play in central defence.
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The ECHO understands Guehi has been a target for much of the summer with the Reds looking to overhaul their defensive options. Discussions have been taking place over a deal for Guehi for a fee believed to be £30m up front with £5m in add-ons and the player is understood to be keen on making the move to Liverpool.
Terms with Guehi himself will only be discussed once an agreement is reached. Slot surprisingly acknowledged the imminent arrival during his press conference on Thursday.
He, however, stopped short of mentioning any specifics about the person in question.
"(I can tell you) that the clubs have agreed a deal but he hasn't signed for us yet," the Liverpool head coach said. "The moment when he signs for us, I can go into more detail.
"And the other one (Guehi) is, of course, the answer you always get from me; no, (I cannot go into more detail) because he is not our player and unfortunately, he was the captain of the team that we lost against last Sunday. No, if you want to have any talks about him, you should go to Palace, to (Oliver) Glasner and ask him his opinion about him."
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