Historic Leoni transfer makes Liverpool buy the 4th biggest Parma sale | OneFootball

Parma have handed Giovanni Leoni to Liverpool for €35m including add-ons, which remarkably makes him the fourth biggest sale in the club’s history.

The 18-year-old completed his transfer to Anfield Road, joining the reigning Premier League Champions and becoming the second Italian in their squad after Federico Chiesa.

The total cost of the operation is reported to be €31m plus another €4m in add-ons, while Parma should also receive a 10 per cent cut of the future sale fee.

MONZA, ITALY – MARCH 15: Giovanni Leoni of Parma in action during the Serie A match between Monza and Parma at U-Power Stadium on March 15, 2025 in Monza, Italy. (Photo by Francesco Scaccianoce/Getty Images)

This is a remarkable tally for a player who only has 17 Serie A appearances under his belt and will not celebrate his 19th birthday until December.

He didn’t even make his top flight debut until a 2-1 win over Venezia on November 9, 2024, but remarkably 14 of those 17 appearances were from the starting XI.

It remains to be seen how he will do in the Premier League, but any gambler worth his salt could choose a no deposit bonus to bet on him flourishing in the Liverpool jersey.

Liverpool make history with Leoni transfer

PARMA, ITALY – DECEMBER 01: Giovanni Leoni of Parma Calcio during the Serie A match between Parma and SS Lazio at Stadio Ennio Tardini on December 01, 2024 in Parma, Italy. (Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

Leoni takes his place in transfer market history, as it means he is the fourth most lucrative sale that Parma have ever made.

It allows him to push Juan Sebastian Veron down the pecking order with his €30m move to Lazio in 1999.

The Italian defender cost only slightly less than another defender, as Lilian Thuram made the transfer from Parma to Juventus for what in today’s money would be €36.15m.

That deal was struck in 2001, the same summer that his then-Parma teammate Gianluigi Buffon also completed his switch to Juventus.

That was a significantly more expensive agreement, as in modern money that would’ve been worth €52.88m.

epa09213922 Juventus players celebrate with goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon (top) at the end of the Italian Cup final soccer match between Atalanta BC and Juventus FC at Mapei Stadium in Reggio Emilia, Italy, 19 May 2021. EPA-EFE/PAOLO MAGNI

First place in the history of Parma sales still belongs to iconic striker Hernan Crespo, who was sold to Lazio for what was then a record-breaking figure of €56.81m in the summer of 2000.

However, compared to those players, Leoni is making an extraordinary profit for the Ducali.

A product of the Padova youth academy, he was sold to Sampdoria following an initial loan period in 2024 for €1.5m.

Just six weeks later, Leoni was sold on again to Parma for €4.8m plus up to another €3.5m in add-ons.

That means his transfer registered a profit of over €26.5m achieved in the space of just one year.

Leoni is an Italy Under-19 international, but while he has been called up for duty with the Under-21 squad, he is yet to make his debut at that level for his country.