The Leoni situation: wanted abroad, needed at home

It has been a cruel first chapter at Liverpool for Giovanni Leoni. The 19-year-old arrived in August 2025, produced a man-of-the-match display against Southampton, and then watched the rest of his debut campaign disappear in an instant when an ACL rupture ended his season after just 80 minutes of football. He has not pulled on a Liverpool shirt since.

Now, with Leoni edging back towards fitness, Juventus have reportedly identified him as a key target in their bid to, as Gazzetta dello Sport frames it, "rebuild the Italian DNA" of the club. The Serie A giants are said to be hunting Premier League defenders to reinforce their backline and restore a sense of national identity to the Old Lady. It is easy to see why Leoni would appeal, young, Italian, and with the kind of potential that makes clubs across Europe take notice.

The interest, however, appears to be arriving at precisely the wrong moment for anyone hoping to prise him away. Speaking ahead of the victory over Ipswich Town, the Reds boss made his intentions for Leoni abundantly clear: "I think the next one probably should be Giovanni Leoni. I think the plan is also to start training during the break, with the group. I think even Fede [Chiesa] should be around those dates and probably Conor [Bradley], and especially Hugo [Ekitike], will go later, yes." That is not the language of a manager willing to let a prized asset walk out the door. Leoni, it seems, is firmly in the plans, and the international break has been earmarked as the moment his rehabilitation steps up a gear.

Klopp finds his spark again

There was something quietly poignant about Jurgen Klopp's admission that his passion for football had gradually been worn down during his final years at Anfield. When he departed in 2024, citing a feeling of running out of energy, it felt like the end of something significant, not just for Liverpool, but perhaps for Klopp himself. Two years on, back in the dugout with Germany, he sounds like a different man.

Ahead of his fourth match as national team manager, a 2-0 win over Serbia, Klopp reflected openly on what the role has given him back. "I missed nothing," he said, "but I realised I still love what I'm doing. It's a blessing to work together with players like [Aleksandar Pavlovic]. It's a pure joy. I'm blessed to watch the group I have from close. We've only just started, I'm looking forward to our common future." That is a man reinvigorated, speaking with the kind of warmth that those of us who watched him on the Anfield touchline will recognise immediately.

Florian Wirtz offered perhaps the most telling assessment of all. "He has a very good rapport with every player," Wirtz said following the Serbia victory. "[He tries] to approach every player and make him feel important and that he deserves to be here. It's important that every player feels valued. And I think Klopp is a true master at that." It is a reminder of exactly what made Klopp so special, and, for Liverpool supporters still processing his absence, perhaps a bittersweet one at that.

Back to business at Anfield

With the international break drawing to a close, attention turns swiftly back to domestic matters. Eighteen senior Liverpool players are set to return from international duty this week, among them Jeremy Jacquet, who earned his first senior call-up for France and drew high praise from his national manager Zinedine Zidane, who described him as a "very, very good" player following impressive showings against Belgium and Italy.

The squad will need to regroup quickly. Enzo Maresca's Manchester City, current leaders of the Premier League, are the visitors to Anfield on Sunday afternoon, and there will be precious little time to prepare. How Leoni and the other returning absentees fit into those plans remains to be seen, but with the biggest match of the club's recent calendar fast approaching, the next few days could hardly be more important.