Giovanni

Liverpool defender Giovanni Leoni is out for “about a year” after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, manager Arne Slot says.

The 18-year-old sustained the injury on his debut against Southampton in the Carabao Cup third round on Tuesday.

Leoni joined the Reds in August from Parma for a fee of £26m plus add-ons.

“He is not in a good place because he tore his ACL which means he will be out around a year,” said Slot.

“Being so young and coming to a new country and playing so well in your first game, it’s very hard to take the positives.

“There is never a positive side but you try to look at that, and that is he is still so young and he has so many years still go to after he recovers from a terrible injury.”

Liverpool have agreed a deal to sign 18-year-old defender Giovanni Leoni from Parma, Reds manager Arne Slot has revealed.

The centre-half has been a key target for Slot and is now set to move to Anfield in a deal worth in the region of £26m.

The Italy Under-19s international began his career at Padova and had a short spell at Sampdoria before joining Parma last summer.

He enjoyed a breakthrough Serie A campaign last season, making 17 appearances as Parma finished 16th, five points above the relegation zone.

“The clubs have agreed a deal but he has not signed for us yet. The moment he does, I can go into more detail,” Slot said.

The Reds boss refused to comment when asked about a potential move for Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi.

“He’s not our player. Unfortunately, he was the captain of the team who we lost to last Sunday. If you want to have any talks about him you should go to Palace and [manager Oliver] Glasner and ask him about it,” Slot said.

FA Cup winners Palace are believed to want £40m for their captain, who only has 12 months left on his contract, but Liverpool want to pay less than that.

Eagles chairman Steve Parish said earlier this week Guehi might be sold to avoid him moving on a free transfer next summer.

If the clubs do agree a deal, the level of playing time he would be afforded at Liverpool will be a crucial consideration for Guehi in a World Cup year.

The Reds have already spent about £270m this summer, though they have recouped about £170m through player sales.

They have also had a £110m bid for Alexander Isak rejected by Newcastle, though sources have told BBC Sport the Swede remains determined to move to the Premier League champions.

Signing Leoni, Guehi and Isak would take Liverpool’s summer spending past £400m.

Defending champions Liverpool begin their 2025-26 Premier League campaign in Friday’s curtain-raiser against Bournemouth at Anfield.

Giovanni Pernice’s ex girlfriend has been eyed up to become one of this years islanders, in the ‘most dramatic series yet’, after dating the former Strictly dancer last year

Giovanni Pernice‘s ex girlfriend, Molly Brown, has reportedly been eyed up for a summer of love in the Love Island villa to find a new romance. The 26 year old, who dated the Strictly star for several months last year, has reportedly been approached by ITV producers.

Molly and Giovanni began dating at the beginning of 2024 but split after a few weeks before rekindling their relationship until July. The couple were together while allegations were being made by Amanda Abbington against Giovanni regarding his actions on Strictly.

The allegations reportedly grew too much for the couple, and they went their separate ways. A source claimed that Molly could ‘spill the beans’ on her previous relationship.

They teased: “TV execs love a famous ex and the chance for Molly to spill the beans on the biggest scandal for their rival channel the BBC was very tempting.”

The source added to The Sun: “She could feature later in the series if show action allows, but ITV do speak to hundreds of singles every year to ensure there’s a wide cast ready for every storyline.”

Former Strictly star Giovanni is now in a relationship with actress Bianca Guaccero. The new couple first crossed paths during the Italian version of Strictly, and their relationship grew from there. They appear to be loved up in recent snaps shared to their social media from a romantic holiday in Barbados.

The reports follow this year’s summer series of Love Island being dubbed the most dramatic series yet. The 12th series of the reality show is set to premiere on June 9 on ITV2, promising to bring more drama and twists. Returning as host, Maya Jama has hinted at unprecedented twists and explosive moments that will keep viewers on the edge of their seats

Mike Spencer-Hayter, also known as Love Island’s boss, has already teased that week one will hold never-seen-before twists, as well as revealing that they have a whole two weeks planned out, which isn’t a usual occurrence. He has also hinted that the huge twist could be related to this years bombshells.

He sparked speculation that the bombshell could be international as he told The Sun: “Something big is coming in week one. We’ve got a really big week one planned. It’s hard to say what we’re doing without saying it. It’s not a celebrity. We’ve not seen it before.”

He added: “There will be things happening for the first couple of days we’ve not done before and certainly in week one. During that week, there’s something incredibly big we’ve never done before. Hopefully, we can do it. It’s quite experimental.”

The boss also admitted to breaking the rules of tradition by planning further ahead. He said: “We’ve mapped out two weeks, which we don’t usually do, to be honest. So we’ve got two weeks planned and one very, very big thing that’s never been done ever on Love Island. Globally.”

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