Exclusive: Liverpool star could be sidelined until 2027 after picking up major injury | OneFootball

Injury Expert Provides Expected Return Date for Liverpool Star after ACL Injury

Liverpool have had a difficult few days suffering back-to-back defeats to Crystal Palace and Galatasaray.

But whilst the results are concerning, Arne Slot is starting to face a few injury concerns already. Alisson Becker and Hugo Ekitike are both doubts for Saturday’s clash with Chelsea after picking up injuries in the 1-0 defeat to Galatasaray.

The duo join 18-year-old defender Giovanni Leoni, who picked up an ACL injury in the Reds’ 2-1 win over Southampton in the Carabao Cup third round.

Leoni joined Liverpool in the summer in a £26m move from Parma and largely impressed in his debut against the Saints prior to picking up the injury.

Early reports suggested that the Italian would be sidelined for the remainder of the season, leaving Slot with just three centre-back options in Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez. The latter two of those have also struggled with their fitness previously, leaving Liverpool in a cautious situation.

Injury expert Ben Dinnery spoke exclusively to Anfield Index and hinted that Leoni could be out of action for much longer…

Photo: IMAGO

Giovanni Leoni Injury Details

In previous years, ACL injuries have often been seen as ‘career-threatening’ or ‘career-ending’ as explained by Dinnery, but that likely isn’t the case anymore.

“Once these injuries were considered as career ending or career threatening, modern technology and recovery processes means that you can mitigate a lot of those risks,” said Dinnery, “However, there are no guarantees that players will always return to pre-injury levels.”

“But there’s context in and around that like whether there are any secondary issues on top of the ACL injury,” continued Dinnery, “You also need to consider the fact that Giovanni is only 18 years old, so Liverpool do have a duty of care to look after the player whilst he is at the club but also the player and his long-term career.”

“I don’t think it’s unreasonable to think that this return to play could potentially extend into late 2026 or even early 2027.”

That verdict is damning. As such a bright young prospect, on the brink of receiving his first senior international call-up to the Italy squad, it’s devastating to hear that his development could be knocked back years.

It also leaves Liverpool with a decision to make as we head into the January transfer window. The Reds had agreed a £35m deal to sign Marc Guehi in the summer, but that deal collapsed on deadline day and are now expected to revive their interest in the defender in the winter.

“You’d expect that Liverpool could dip into the transfer market in January and bring in someone like Marc Guehi and that would ease the pressure on Arne Slot and let Giovanni go through the correct processes but you’re really looking at between 12-18 months for him to stabilise and it could be two years before he gets back to hitting those pre-injury levels,” said Dinnery.

Of course, it’s important to note that even if Leoni does face 18-months on the sidelines, he would still return as an exciting 20-year-old defender with world-clas potential. His story is far from over at Liverpool.