Liverpool’s Leoni injury could hand Chiesa a European reprieve

Giovanni Leoni’s injury misfortune may have paved the way to Champions League salvation for his countryman Federico Chiesa after a night of mixed fortunes for Liverpool’s Italian contingent in the League Cup.

Leoni, the 18-year-old centre-back signed from Parma for £26m last month, was left in visible pain following a late tumble in Tuesday night’s 2-1 victory over Southampton. The incident brought a premature end to a distinguished Liverpool debut alongside Joe Gomez, with Leoni leaving the pitch on a stretcher after an extended period of treatment by club physios.

While the extent of the injury will not be known until the Italian undergoes scans on Wednesday, manager Arne Slot offered a bleak assessment afterwards. Medical experts have speculated that Leoni suffered a knee injury, with assessments ranging from bone bruising or dislocation to the worst-case scenario of anterior cruciate ligament damage. 

The last of those possibilities would represent a huge blow for the teenager, whom experts believe may have been given a Lachmann test, a movement assessment used to diagnose ACL damage. A similar injury to club captain Virgil van Dijk in 2020 proved season-ending.

Leoni injury could see Chiesa return to Champions League squad

Should Leoni’s mishap prove serious, it would allow Slot to restore Chiesa to Liverpool’s 22-man Champions League squad, from which the 27-year-old was a high-profile omission earlier this month due to the limitation placed on non-homegrown players. Uefa rules allow for a new player to be drafted in if an existing squad member is ruled out for 60 days or more.  

However, after an eye-catching turn against Southampton in which he set up goals for Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike, Chiesa is determined to force his way into Slot’s plans irrespective of other circumstances. It marked the latest significant contribution from the Italian, who also came off the bench to seal victory against Bournemouth on the opening night of the Premier League campaign. 

Federico Chiesa: ‘If I don’t want competition, I go to another team’

“I can play more in this competition,” Chiesa said of the League Cup. “But I want to show the manager I can play more in the Premier League. The coach gave me chances in the first four games, and I think I showed that I can help the team. I’m not in the Champions League squad, but I am focused on the Carabao Cup.

“He told me what he was thinking, why he chose to do what he did. I was sorry I am not part of the Champions League squad, as to play in it is every player’s dream. I just said to the coach, ‘OK, no problem. I will keep working hard and I will get my chances in the Carabao Cup and the Premier League.’ I am a professional player, I play for Liverpool and to do that is amazing.”

The arrival of fellow attackers Isak and Ekitike this summer has seen Chiesa fall further down the Anfield pecking order following last term’s injury-plagued debut campaign.

‘I play for Liverpool, they are going to buy top players’

However, with Isak yet to reach full fitness following his deadline-day move from Newcastle and Ekitike suspended for Saturday’s Premier League visit to Crystal Palace after earning a second yellow card for celebrating his late winner on Tuesday night, opportunity beckons for Chiesa. He is not about to spurn it.

“I play for a top club,” he said. “This is maybe one of the top three in the world. It’s Liverpool, of course they are going to buy top players, of course the competition is high. If I don’t want competition, I go to another team.

“But I want the competition, I want to play here and I think, at the end of the day, competition helps you to become a better player.”