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Liverpool continues to be linked with a move for Parma prospect Giovanni Leoni, as the Reds continue their search for a new center-back following the departure of Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen.
Quansah's exit left Liverpool with just three senior center-backs in Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, and Joe Gomez, and the latter's sketchy injury record, combined with Konate's contract situation, leaves the center-back position in Liverpool's squad looking even more uncertain.
Italian outlet Corriere dello Sport reports that Liverpool is interested in Leoni, but the Reds are likely to face competition from both Milan clubs to sign the 18-year-old. Parma is said to value Leoni at €35 million ($40 million), and the Serie A club would prefer to keep hold of him for one more season.
Leoni is a name that has been linked with Liverpool fairly frequently in recent weeks, and it seems as though he and Marc Guehi are the two center-backs who are most likely to be recruited by the Reds in the closing weeks of the window.
Meanwhile, Slot bemoaned Liverpool's defending during Sunday's Community Shield meeting with Crystal Palace, which the Reds lost on penalties after a 2-2 draw in regulation time.
Virgil van Dijk conceded a penalty in the first half, while the Liverpool captain also found himself out of position for Palace's second-half leveller.
"I have mixed feelings," Slot told TNT Sports. "If you look at our attacking play it looks better than last season [against Crustal Palace]. On the other hand we conceded two goals, we need to be better defensively.
"The first one is a very good team goal and a good example of how creative we can be, that will only get better. But I think if you want to compete to win the league, one of the main things is not conceding goals or chances and we have to improve on that."
Liverpool's need for a new center-back this summer was underlined last month as Gomez flew back from the Reds' pre-season tour in Asia due to an Achilles inju ry — he has not played since.
Speaking over the weekend, Palace chairman Steve Parish appeared to suggest that Guehi could be sold before the window closes, as he said that he does not want to lose the England defender on a free transfer.
"For players of that calibre to leave on a free, it is a problem for a football club," Parish said. "There is no doubt about it, unfortunately. Joachim (Anderson) went (last summer to Fulham) and we couldn’t afford to lose both of them.
"We then had another bid in January but that was a difficult situation as well. We will just have to see what happens. It needs a new contract or a conclusion of some kind.
"In the end, people trade players. That is what football clubs do. Of course, if you don’t care about tomorrow ever and put it all off, then we are a fantastic team.
"If we had four more players, I don’t know what we could achieve. Unfortunately, it is not always as simple as that. We have got a lot of outgoings this year because we are paying a lot of transfer fees for players that we have already got."
Parish added: "If you see the fees, they are just nuts. The money we are paying, crazy. We will have to see. We will do whatever we can. We won’t stop working. But as far as people being here or not being here, it depends.
"If it is the right decision for the football club and for them, there will be changes. But we have got to make smart ones."
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