Overview

• Parma chief executive Federico Cherubini said a higher bid from Newcastle United was rejected before Giovanni Leoni completed a £26m move to Liverpool.
• Gennaro Gattuso named the 18-year-old among three debutants for World Cup qualifiers against Estonia and Israel, citing Leoni’s maturity against Romelu Lukaku, while Federico Chiesa stayed out by mutual decision.
• Leoni said he did not expect the senior call-up, noting he had a summer conversation with Gattuso before being selected.
• The centre-back has trained with Liverpool’s first team and was on the bench at Newcastle, with the upcoming League Cup tie at Southampton seen as a possible debut opportunity.
• Leoni called Virgil van Dijk his childhood idol and is now training alongside him, and he said Leonardo Bonucci has already given him on-field advice in the Italy setup.