Parma centre-back Giovanni Leoni has been watched closely by Liverpool, and the club are described as having started to ‘really build their interest’.

Liverpool’s needs at centre-back are evident, and Crystal Palace captain Marc Guehi has headlined the list of targets throughout this summer, though a deal has yet to advance.

The club have also been linked with young options in the position, including Leoni, Joel Ordonez of Club Brugge, and Wolfsburg’s Konstantinos Koulierakis.

Leoni is a name that has started to be more strongly linked, and transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano has now described Liverpool as “really, really interested.”

Talking on the ‘Here We Go Podcast‘, Romano reports that Liverpool are “really considering” considering the 18-year-old defender, who is on their shortlist.

“Liverpool started following and monitoring this player, including him on the shortlist, and now I can tell you they start really building their interest,” he stated.

The Italian centre-back has been linked to clubs in his homeland, including Inter Milan after they appointed former Parma manager Cristian Chivu to replace Simone Inzaghi.

Leonie’s price tag is prohibitive for the majority of Italian clubs, with Parma seeking at least €40 million (£34.6m) for the highly-rated centre-back.

Romano seeks to say that Liverpool have to decide whether they opt for a young player or one who can guarantee an immediate impact, but in an ideal world the club acquire both this summer.

Leoni is considered a huge prospect after a breakout year in Serie A that concluded with 17 appearances at the age of just 18, with Romano describing him as “probably the biggest young star we have in Italy in his position.”

The Mail‘s Lewis Steele and Liverpool journalist David Lynch have both previously name-checked Leoni as a centre-back the club have been monitoring.

Giovanni Leoni can win the physical battle

• READ: Why Giovanni Leoni is among Liverpool’s young centre-back targets

Standing at 6’5″ and with a strong frame, he already has an imposing presence and can offer an injection of pace coming out of defence.

While he still has further development to undergo when it comes to growing into his body, he is physical in duels and can dominate without giving away too many fouls:

  • 70th percentile for percentage of duels won
  • 68th percentile for percentage of aerial duels won

For comparison, Jarell Quansah was in the 5th and 9th percentile in the Premier League last season for the abovementioned statistics and Guehi the 50th and 29th, respectively.