‘Talent knows no age’ – European Cup-winning coach says Liverpool have pulled off ‘a great coup’ | OneFootball

A legendary European Cup-winning coach believes that Liverpool are about to pull off ‘a great coup’ in the transfer market.

As reported by Fabrizio Romano, the Reds have agreed a deal to sign Parma defender Giovanni Leoni for €35m (£30.1m), with the 18-year-old due to touch down on Merseyside today ahead of his medical with the Premier League champions.

Paul Joyce subsequently revealed that Manchester United and Newcastle made late attempts to hijack the deal but to no avail, with the youngster set to be immediately integrated into Arne Slot’s senior squad.

Sacchi: Liverpool have landed ‘a great coup’ in Leoni

Arrigo Sacchi – the iconic former coach who led AC Milan to back-to-back European Cups and took Italy to a World Cup final – believes that Leoni has already proven himself capable of excelling at an elite club like Liverpool.

In his Gazzetta dello Sport, he wrote: ‘Liverpool’s hands are reaching out for Giovanni Leoni. On the one hand, the news makes me immensely happy; and on the other, it makes me a little angry.

‘Let me explain. I am happy that an Italian player is receiving praise from a major club like Liverpool, but I wish AC Milan or Inter, Juventus or Napoli were competing for his transfer, not a foreign club.

‘I feel like the Reds would make a great coup by securing this boy, whom I followed with curiosity and interest in the second half of last season. Leoni is only 18, and I’m told he’s a decent guy, hard-working, humble and very determined.’

(Photo by Giuseppe Bellini/Getty Images)

Sacchi continued: ‘I’m convinced he’ll be the linchpin of the Azzurri defence for a long time. Some, regarding a possible transfer to Liverpool, object that this young man has only made 17 Serie A appearances so far. Isn’t that too few? No, I reply. Not few, because on those occasions Leoni has demonstrated the qualities needed to go far.

‘If someone is good, if someone has their head in the right place, it’s immediately obvious. A person can have 200 Serie A games under their belts and still not possess the qualities Leoni displayed in his first season as an adult. Talent knows no age.’

Leoni would seem to be a perfect fit for Liverpool

Cynics may argue that Liverpool are paying a lot for a defender who’s only played 33 times in his senior career (with half of those coming at a lower level than Serie A), but Leoni is clearly doing a lot right to earn a move to the Premier League champions and receive such glowing reviews from an Italian football deity in Sacchi.

The defender has already proven capable of starring against elite opposition – a scouting report from Total Football Analysis referenced how the 18-year-old was ‘utterly dominant’ in Parma’s 1-0 win over Juventus in April, winning seven of his eight duels against a team which went on to finish in the top four of the league.

It’s also interesting to note the columnist’s praise of the youngster as a ‘hard-working’ and ‘humble’ character, traits which align with the principles that Slot has instilled in his squad and should help to ensure that the new arrival integrates seamlessly with his new teammates.

Leoni isn’t likely to straight into the Liverpool starting XI, instead continuing to develop under the head coach’s tuition and with additional guidance from Virgil van Dijk, who the teenager has cited as a role model.

This young man, who seems to have maturity beyond his tender years, is bound for the perfect environment in which to grow even further as an elite-level footballer. In time, hopefully the £30m transfer fee will be viewed in hindsight as a bargain.