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Liverpool's young talent, Giovanni Leoni, has shared an update with supporters following his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) surgery.
The 18-year-old sustained the injury during his debut match against Southampton in the Carabao Cup last month. Leoni, who joined Liverpool in a transfer from Parma in August, had been keenly anticipating his chance to shine, which was given by Arne Slot for the Carabao Cup third round tie at Anfield against Will Still's side.
Despite a promising performance, the Italian's first outing ended in disaster when he landed awkwardly after a tackle in the 81st minute. After receiving on-field medical treatment, Leoni was stretchered off, and post-match, Slot admitted that the prognosis for the young centre-back looked bleak.
Subsequent confirmation revealed that Leoni had indeed suffered an ACL tear, with Slot disclosing in his pre-Crystal Palace press conference last Friday that the player could be out of action for around 12 months.
"He is not in a good place, of course, because he tore his ACL, and it means he will be out for a year," Slot stated.
"Being so young and coming to a new country and playing so well in your first game... it's very hard to take the positive side.
"There's never a positive side - but you always try to look at a positive side, and that is that he is still so young, so he has so many years still to go after he recovers from a terrible injury like that."
Leoni has confirmed that he has undergone surgery for his ACL injury, and expressed his gratitude for the messages of support as he embarks on a lengthy recovery journey.
In an Instagram story, alongside a picture of him in a hospital bed, Leoni said: "Surgery done. Thanks everyone for the messages. I'll be back soon," accompanied by a red heart emoji and a pair of praying hands emoji.
Liverpool teammates Virgil van Dijk and Joe Gomez, who have both experienced similar injuries and made successful comebacks, and Slot stated that having that experience within the squad will be a good support for Leoni.
Ahead of his team's trip to Palace last Friday, head coach Slot said: "I think that last thing definitely helps, and we have some examples of that with Virgil and Joe, and there are a lot of examples all around the world.
"That's why I said the positive thing is that he is still 18, so he still has a lot of time to go. If you get an injury like that when you are close to your retirement, it makes it much more difficult, maybe. But in both situations, it's far from ideal.
"I think the main and most important thing is the surgeons that are going to do the surgery, then second of all, the ones that do the recovery, the rehab, with him.
"But then it's always nice if you can do this in a surrounding with players who have lived through this as well, they can give you the right energy maybe in certain moments."
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