Iraola: Leoni's return delayed by a month after knee setback

Liverpool head coach Andoni Iraola confirmed on Thursday that defender Giovanni Leoni's return to training has been pushed back by approximately one month, with the 19-year-old now targeting November's international break.

Leoni suffered an ACL tear during his Liverpool debut — a Carabao Cup tie against Southampton at Anfield in September 2025. Iraola acknowledged the injury was more complex than a standard ACL rupture.

"It's taking more time than we wanted. The planning was to train with the team in this past international break [but] probably it's going to be in the next international break, so we've lost one month in the process," Iraola said at his pre-Brentford press conference.

"Giovanni's injury, I wasn't here but talking to the medical department, it was not just an ACL – it was a bad injury, a lot of things around the knee were involved apart from the ACL."

The Liverpool manager stressed the club is prioritising caution over speed in the defender's recovery programme. Leoni has spent the past year working with the medical team at the AXA Training Centre.

"He has to be very confident, the rehab process has to be very careful with him and we want to make sure once he comes to the team, he stays there in a good place," Iraola added. "It's not that far but it's a little bit later than we expected, yes."