Gennaro Gattuso raves about Giovanni Leoni in explaining Liverpool gem’s maiden Italy call-up | OneFootball

Giovanni Leoni could be in line to make his Italy debut before his Liverpool one!

The 18-year-old is one of three players (along with Giovanni Fabbian and Francesco Pio Esposito) given their first call-up to the senior Azzurri squad for their World Cup qualifiers against Estonia and Israel over the coming days.

The teenage defender is yet to play for the Reds since joining from Parma last month, but national team coach Gennaro Gattuso has clearly been impressed by what the youngster produced during his time at the Stadio Ennio Tardini.

What did Gattuso say about Leoni?

Speaking in his press conference ahead of Italy’s upcoming fixtures, the former AC Milan midfield general said (via Tuttomercatoweb): “I called them up because I think Fabbian is very similar to [Davide] Frattesi; he fills the penalty area well and has physicality.

“Pio’s qualities are unquestionable and we see them, and Leoni is the same – a young player born in 2006 with great personality and impressive bursts of speed. I didn’t give them anything; I called them up because I think they have very specific characteristics.”

Gattuso added: “When I see a player, there’s something that has to strike me. I think they’re young, but they have nerve and already play like adults.

“Leoni played openly with [Romelu] Lukaku last year, and for me, they’re ready. Maybe at our age we didn’t have the nerve they have today, and when I see that, I reward them. Of course, there’s always quality at the core.”

(Photo by Alessandro Sabattini/Getty Images)

Leoni has already made a huge impression in his homeland

It isn’t just the current Italy head coach who’s waxed lyrical about Leoni – the legendary Arrigo Sacchi, who led his nation to the 1994 World Cup final, is ‘convinced’ that the Liverpool gem will become a ‘lynchpin’ of the Azzurri’s defence ‘for a long time’.

He also claimed that, in his breakthrough first-team season, the 18-year-old played like someone who had ‘200 Serie A games’ on his CV.

As Gattuso referenced, the towering teenager has already held his own against experienced high-level attackers. In fact, when Parma shocked Juventus in a 1-0 win in April, the youngster won seven out of eight duels in what  Total Football Analysis labelled an ‘utterly dominant’ performance.

Leoni will likely continue to play a backup role to Virgil van Dijk and Ibrahima Konate at Liverpool, but injuries to either of those could see him get the nod from Arne Slot, who could plausibly hand him a Reds debut in the Carabao Cup clash against Southampton later this month.

LFC fans will be keeping a close eye on Italy’s fixtures this week to see if he’s given his national team bow as the Azzurri seek to recover from a slow start to their World Cup qualifying campaign and reach the finals for the first time since 2014, when our new number 15 was only seven years of age.