- 5 minutes ago
As Liverpool looks to the future beyond Virgil van Dijk, they've placed their faith in young talent. This video details Giovanni Leoni's career, from his early days in Italy to his big-money move and unfortunate debut injury, assessing if he truly has what it takes to become a Liverpool legend.
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00:00Virgil van Dijk turns 35 this summer, and while that's still quite young in most workplaces,
00:04in elite men's professional football, more often than not, that means you're over the hill.
00:08The Dutchman has spent the past eight years at Anfield, winning everything there is to win.
00:13He's been a tremendous servant to the Reds, and if this season is his last,
00:17he's earned the right to ride off into the sun on his own terms.
00:20What Liverpool have done to guard against van Dijk's inevitable departure,
00:23whether it be this summer or next, is sign two of Europe's best young central defenders.
00:28That should do it.
00:29Giovanni Leone and Jeremy Jacquet are the young defenders with the unenviable task
00:33of showing Liverpool fans what life will be like after van Dijk.
00:37I'm Joe Donoghue, welcome back to the Boys A Bit special,
00:39a 4-4-2 series highlighting the best and brightest teenagers in world football.
00:44There's the header, it's the 18-year-old Giovanni Leone.
00:47Giovanni Leone probably didn't envisage the start to his Liverpool career going as terribly as it did.
00:52On his debut, Leone suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury,
00:55ruling him out for the entire 2025-26 season.
00:58How's your luck?
00:59What was billed as a season of gradual integration, learning the ropes from van Dijk and Ibrahima
01:04Kanate, quickly became a year of rehabilitation, recuperation and time in the gym.
01:10Leone is expected to return by the time 2026-27 rolls around,
01:14and a full pre-season will likely do him a world of good.
01:16But, as a result of his injury, Liverpool fans have seen very little,
01:20so can't really see how suited he is to replacing the ever-present van Dijk.
01:24The scouting team at 4-4-2 HQ, both of which definitely exist,
01:28have palled over the data and the clips to bring you the following.
01:31And we feel quite confident in saying,
01:33drumroll please,
01:34the boy's a bit special.
01:38Leone came through at local club Parova, in Italy's lower leagues.
01:41He made his debut there at 16 years old, back in March 2023,
01:45making him the youngest professional footballer in Italy that season.
01:48He joined Sampdoria for 1.5 million euros,
01:51spent half a season in Serie B,
01:53before top flight side Parma said,
01:55actually, we'd quite like that big brute of a centre-half you've just bought, Sampdoria.
01:59You know what? We'll pay four times what you did.
02:02Fast forward 12 months, and after a season battling relegation,
02:05Liverpool deemed Leone worth £26 million,
02:08and worthy of a six-year contract.
02:11Nice one, Gigi.
02:12So, what was it that convinced the Reds to spend so heavily
02:15on a teenage defender relatively unproven in top-level football?
02:19Well, Leone stands at 6 foot 5 inches tall,
02:22and is probably the only Liverpool player
02:24who can challenge Van Dijk when it comes to aerial defending.
02:27That will have played a big part in Michael Edwards' decision
02:30to bring him to Anfield.
02:31He's a very good judge of a player, as Edwards.
02:33But sometimes, it's as simple as,
02:35bloody hell, look at that massive mobile defender.
02:38He does what our Virgil does.
02:40Leone is, first and foremost, an excellent competitor.
02:43Battling for possession is what he came out the womb doing.
02:45Some of you may have already seen the semi-viral photo of Leone
02:48with his hand inside the collar of Romelu Lukaku's shirt.
02:51The Belgians sat down looking uncharacteristically helpless on the turf.
02:55He won't be bullied.
02:57Leone is a physical, playground bully-style defender,
03:00not afraid to throw his weight around.
03:02He might find himself in hot water with referees occasionally,
03:04but more often than not, he's going to need that physicality
03:07to compete against the Premier League's growing list
03:10of super-sized centre-forwards.
03:12Why is it important Leone is a tall, physically strong presence
03:15at the heart of Liverpool's defence moving forwards?
03:17Well, because that's what it's been predicated on for the past eight years.
03:21Even this season, when some people would have you believe
03:23that Van Dijk's powers are on the way in,
03:26the Liverpool skipper has the best aerial win rate
03:28of any player in the Premier League.
03:3075% according to Opta.
03:32Second in the list is Aston Villa's Amadou Anana,
03:35although he's contested significantly fewer.
03:37And third, Ibrahima Kanate.
03:39You could go as far to say it's a pretty big prerequisite
03:42for whoever fills Van Dijk's size 14s.
03:46And Leone is no slouch either.
03:47Watch any highlight reel of his time at Parma
03:49and you'll see a defender who saunters back to recover possession,
03:53putting his huge stride to good use.
03:55But, if needs be, he can turn the afterburners on
03:57whilst going shoulder to shoulder.
03:59He's the type of defender whose self-assurance
04:01in the way he carries himself breathes confidence into his teammates.
04:04Of course, by the time Leone returns from injury,
04:07he'll have been out of practice for some time.
04:09Almost a year, in fact.
04:10That's likely to have taken its toll on his physicality,
04:14mental readiness and match fitness.
04:16So, don't expect him to be in from the start
04:18on the opening day of next season
04:19or hitting the heights, pun very much intended, straight away.
04:23Over time, though, everything points towards Leone
04:25becoming the Van Dijk replacement Liverpool will sorely need
04:28once the Dutchman calls time on his Anfield stint.
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04:46Jeremy Jacquet, Liverpool have got their man.
04:49The temptation to pronounce the surname of Liverpool's newest signing
04:52like a type of potato or an overcoat is overwhelming,
04:55but this is a very serious football operation at 442,
04:58so you won't be getting any of that here.
05:00We're reliably informed it is pronounced Jeremy Jacquet,
05:04if you'll pardon the Inspector Clouseau-esque delivery.
05:07He's not on Merseyside yet, Jacquet that is, not Steve Martin,
05:10but he is joining the Premier League this summer.
05:13Jacquet currently plays for Stade Rene,
05:15and hopefully I've managed to say that better than Ashley Cole did
05:17during a UEFA draw that one time.
05:20Stade Rennes.
05:21Stade Rennes.
05:22He recently turned 20, stands at 6 foot 2 inches tall,
05:26and cost Liverpool £55 million,
05:28plus a further £5 million in add-ons.
05:31Rennes, the north-western French city where the club is based,
05:34have one of the most prolific academy setups in modern football history.
05:37Ousmane Dembele, Desiree Due, Eduardo Camavinga,
05:40Jorginho Ruta and Matisse Tell are some of the team's recent academy graduates.
05:45But that's not all.
05:46Rafinha, Jeremy Doku, Ismail Assar, Sylvain Wiltor and even Petr Cech
05:50have all passed through the club during the early part of their careers,
05:53before going on to achieve big things in the Premier League and further afield.
05:57I'd like to take this brief moment to say sorry for including a reference to Ismail Assar
06:00in what is ostensibly a Liverpool video.
06:02My bad.
06:03Let's get back on task.
06:05In January 2024, Jacquet made his Rennes debut
06:08before being sent on loan to Clermont Foot, who were destined for the drop.
06:12Over the next 12 months at Clermont, with appearances in Ligue 1 and Ligue 2,
06:15it was decided that Jacquet had developed enough to be recalled by parent club Rennes.
06:20Recently appointed head coach Habib Bey,
06:22once the subject of a Happy Days-themed terrace chant,
06:24figure it out, said to the Rennes hierarchy,
06:27go and get the Jacquet.
06:28They paid 900,000 euros to end his loan early,
06:32and the teenager was thrust straight into a Ligue 1 relegation battle with Rennes.
06:36It was a gamble that paid off almost immediately.
06:39Jacquet slotted in on the left-hand side of a back three, wearing No. 97,
06:43and Rennes didn't concede for the first 355 minutes with Jacquet on the pitch.
06:47Rennes subsequently climbed from 15th, three positions off the bottom of the table,
06:51to 11th.
06:52Job done.
06:53Jacquet was actually in the same youth teams as the aforementioned Matisse Tell and Desiree Douai,
06:58who feel as though they've been around the top levels of European football for the past few years at least.
07:03Jacquet, on the other hand, is only breaking through now,
07:05having had to deal with persistent injuries and growing pains as a youngster.
07:09At the time of recording, Jacquet also happens to be injured,
07:12picking up a shoulder issue shortly after completing his Liverpool move.
07:15No, it had nothing to do with the pen he used to sign the contract.
07:18Needless to say, his injury record is perhaps something to keep an eye on,
07:21particularly as he acclimatises to the physically demanding nature of English football next season.
07:27From a stylistic point of view, Jacquet is slightly different to Leone.
07:30Where the Italian dominates in physical duels,
07:33Jacquet is an excellent reader of the game,
07:35snuffing out danger by anticipating where it'll arise.
07:38That isn't to say Jacquet is some pushover though, because he isn't.
07:41He does both.
07:42It's just, his ability to intercept, be quick over the ground and get to a loose ball before his opponent
07:48is definitely one of his standout attributes.
07:51Supposedly, Chelsea were running Liverpool close for Jacquet's signature.
07:54Arsenal were linked too.
07:55But the likelihood of regular minutes at Anfield swung it in the Reds' favour.
07:59Ibrahima Canate also happens to be one of Jacquet's favourite players.
08:03Nobody tell him about the expiring contract though.
08:05More importantly, given the sheer volume of young central defenders,
08:08many of them French, on Chelsea's books at the moment,
08:11we'd be inclined to agree that picking Liverpool was probably the smart move.
08:15Van Dijk will be a huge miss to Liverpool when the time comes.
08:18But the good thing about being a globally recognised club with immense resources
08:21is you're able to sign the next Van Dijk from under the noses of your closest rivals.
08:26Leone is already in the building, albeit hobbling about on crutches,
08:30and Jacquet will be too sooner rather than later.
08:32Not on crutches.
08:33Will they play together next year?
08:35Probably not all that often.
08:37There'll be a fair amount of hand-holding by Van Dijk if he stays.
08:40And don't rule out Liverpool going for another, more experienced head at centre-back
08:44to bridge the gap between the old guard and the new.
08:47Particularly if Canate moves on to pastures new.
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09:11Until next time, bye for now.
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