Photo: Humphrey Bolton / CC BY-SA 2.0 / Wikimedia Commons
Liverpool defender Giovanni Leoni says he is closing in on a return to action after almost a year sidelined by an anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered on his debut for the club.
Leoni, 19, sustained the injury on September 23, 2025, during Liverpool's League Cup third-round win over Southampton at Anfield — his first appearance for the Reds after joining from Serie A side Parma the previous summer.
"That night, when I had the injury, I was close to Conor Bradley and I told him, 'This is ACL, 100 per cent.' The pain is the strongest pain I've ever felt," Leoni said in an interview with Liverpoolfc.com.
Scans confirmed his immediate self-diagnosis. The Italian centre-back has since undergone a lengthy rehabilitation programme at Liverpool's AXA Training Centre, where he has also attended three two-hour English lessons a week.
"Of course, when I had that moment in the first game, in my debut, I said, 'Why [did this happen] to me?' But I don't think that is the best thing to say to yourself," Leoni said. "So I tried to change [my] mind and to say, 'OK, it's happening to me so I have to do something to become better than before.'"
Leoni described the first months of recovery as difficult both physically and mentally, but said the experience shifted over time. "After three or four months everything is more mentally than physically, because you can run, you can start walking again, running again, lift weights, so everything is easier as [concerns] the body. But mentally, it's a tough journey."
Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk, who underwent his own ACL recovery in 2020-21, has served as a mentor throughout. "He helped me a lot," Leoni said.
The interview took place during the final days of Liverpool's pre-season tour of the United States, where Leoni maintained his programme with running sessions and ball work. He said he has now returned to solo pitch work after 10 months out.
"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," he said. "Then we will see how the knee will respond and how I will feel to be back playing games."
Leoni's first match for Liverpool came under then-head coach Arne Slot. His comeback will fall under new head coach Andoni Iraola, with whom the defender says he has already held initial discussions.
"He's a really good coach but before [that] he is a really good person," Leoni said of Iraola. "I can't wait to play under him."
On his return to competitive football, Leoni said: "I've been dreaming about that since I had the injury. After a lot of months, when you had this type of injury, of course I'm going to be a little bit nervous — but it will be more excited than nervous."
His objectives, he added, remain unchanged from before the injury. "The thing is that I want to be back and win the most games as possible, win the most trophies as possible. The goals are more as a team than as an individual."