Giovanni Leoni has said he can finally ‘see the light at the end of the tunnel’ after almost a year out of action with an ACL injury.
The Liverpool defender had given an impressive performance on his debut for the club in their Carabao Cup win over Southampton last September, but that night will sadly be remembered for the devastating body blow that he sustained.
He’s been gradually stepping up his recovery at the AXA Training Centre throughout the summer and was with the Reds’ squad on the recent pre-season tour to the United States, although he didn’t play in any of our three matches in America.
In an interview with liverpoolfc.com, Leoni hinted that he’s nearing a return to team training and can finally see his long-awaited comeback creeping into view.
The 19-year-old said: “Now I feel really good. After 10 months I’m back on the pitch alone, but I feel really good. In the last weeks I felt really good on the pitch.
“The knee is looking good and I’m feeling the knee really good, so I can’t wait to be back with the team as soon as possible and then come back to play games in front of the fans.
“Now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m not with the team, but I think in a short time now I can be back with the team. Then we will see how the knee will respond and how I will feel to be back playing games.”
Speaking about his excitement at his eventual comeback, Leoni added: “I’ve been dreaming about that since I had the injury. I can’t wait to be back in front of the fans.
“These two months now the excitement is going to be more and more, because as I said, I can see the light until the end. Now I can feel more that the comeback is closer, so I’m really happy.”
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We can only imagine how horrendously tough the past few months have been for Leoni, who seemed to be on the cusp of lift-off at Liverpool before fate’s cruel intervention robbed him of virtually an entire year of his career.
It seems likely that a full 12 months will have elapsed by the time he plays again, but at least a comeback is now on the horizon for the Italian teenager, who has been sorely missed at Anfield.
Had he been fit for the pre-season tour, he’d undoubtedly have started every game, given that Andoni Iraola didn’t have any senior centre-backs to call upon after Joe Gomez was injured in the opening minutes of the first friendly against Sunderland.
Having been sidelined for so long, Leoni will naturally take a bit of time to fully get back up to speed, so we’ll need to be patient with him once he’s out on the pitch again. Thankfully, at long last, it seems as though that moment might just be coming into view.
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We are all in the dark, is he good enough for the physical demands of the premier league?
Very young, had a terrible injury and he wont be rushed back and thrown straight into the mix.
You have to ask yourself if Iraola had the say over transfers would he be spending 100 million on another left winger with the state of our defence.
The football club is being run by the wrong people. It’s the blind leading the blind. FSG and Richard Hughes. Good luck to Leoni.
Good for the lad to be nearing fitness again, but yeah I’d think probably too soon to be dropped into a starting 11 week in week out and expecting to perform to the required level to challenge for the PL and in the CL. We’re 1 or 2 PL CBs and 1 RB away from having a defence that won’t ship 50+ goals again. And yep, how many left wingers do we need!? Even the new Mbaye speculation, he plays on the left alot, though can play right. The squad lacks depth to be considered a serious contender this season, and the wrong positions seem to be the focus of those above Iraola. He’s in for a tough lesson possibly, but it won’t be his fault if those above keep getting decisions wrong on who to sign and letting high value players leave for freezing in numbers.
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