Giovanni Leoni has completed his transfer from Parma to Liverpool for a reported €35m plus add-ons. ‘Wow, this is crazy.’
The 18-year-old only made his Serie A debut in November 2024 and has just 17 top flight appearances under his belt.
Nonetheless, he impressed enough to spark a bidding war between Inter, Milan and others, with Liverpool swooping in for €31m plus €4m add-ons and a 10 per cent cut of the future sale fee.
Leoni ‘very happy’ at Liverpool move
“I’m very happy to be here. It’s a really great sensation and I’m honoured to be here,” he told the official Liverpool website.
How did the teenager feel when told that the Premier League giants wanted to sign him?
“Yeah, a lot [of excitement]. I’m so honoured. I was very happy. When I saw this I said, ‘Wow, this is crazy.’ I’m very happy.”
Giovanni Leoni is a Red. pic.twitter.com/xMXH9fXnVp
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) August 15, 2025
Leoni flew in yesterday and completed his medical tests, so is now only waiting for international clearance and a successful work permit application.
The Italian will wear the Number 15 jersey at Anfield Road.
“I want to improve a lot with my new teammates in training and after on the pitch, in the Premier League and the Champions League,” added Leoni.
“I want to improve a lot with my new teammates in training and after on the pitch, in the Premier League and the Champions League.”
Watch Giovanni Leoni’s first interview as a Liverpool player on All Red video 💻
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) August 15, 2025
He will be in the stands for tonight’s Premier League opener against Bournemouth and can be presented to the fans at Anfield.
poor guy, carreer is over not even started, what unlucky boy 🙁
another talent leaving italian football terrible.
ps what is going on with cagliari new stadium this is terrible stadiums not been built.
Career ending move. Kids will make stupid decisions all the time. Unfortunate he didn’t have the right advisors around him. Ideally he gets tired of sitting on the bench and comes back to serie A. Hopefully, before it’s too late.
I dislike this new trend in Italy where excellent Italian young talent is leaving to go to England instead of Italian teams buying them. Instead they are buying regular unknown foreign talent. My fear is that many of them will be burnt in the Premiere League as they may not be ready.
Such a waste