Inter Milan worried Liverpool could be readying decisive move to sign £34m defender

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Liverpool have been one of the biggest spenders in the summer transfer market thus far.

The Reds won the Premier League title last season with their first-team squad already being fairly dominant.

However, since there were a couple of areas within Arne Slot’s squad that still needed upgrading, that’s exactly what they’ve done.

Players such as Florian Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong have been brought in, and even though they’ve spent close to £200million on recruitment, they’re not even close to stopping yet.

Inter Milan are worried that Liverpool could make a ‘concrete offer’ for Giovanni Leoni soon

Now that Hugo Ekitike is on his way to being a Liverpool player, the Reds’ striker problems seem to have been solved.

And, while a new left-back was their main priority at the start of the summer transfer window, it feels like the only area of the squad left for them to improve is their centre-backs.

Liverpool only have three senior centre-backs among their ranks at the moment, and, as per a report from La Gazzetta dello Sport, Inter Milan are worried that the Merseyside outfit could bring in one of their top targets this summer.

That’s because, over the last few weeks, the Reds have been linked with Giovanni Leoni and Marc Guehi as defensive options.

The report outlines that Leoni is on top of Inter’s shortlist this summer, with the Serie A side willing to pay up to €30million (£25.9million) to acquire his services.

However, since the rumours around Leoni’s future first emerged, it was made well aware that Parma wanted €40million (£34.6million).

And, since Inter can’t meet that price, they’re now worried that Liverpool could beat them to the transfer and put in a ‘concrete offer.’

La Gazzetta dello Sport also outline that ‘patience’ and ‘nerves of steel’ will be needed from Inter if they do wish to pull off this move, as, with the way Liverpool have been spending, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see them make a move for the Italian.

Signing Giovanni Leoni would be another risk for Liverpool

Although Leoni may have had an impressive campaign in Italy during the 2024-25 season, he’s still just 18 years old and has only had one term at the top level.

He may well also be 6’4 with some characteristics that are similar to Virgil Van Dijk’s style of play, but paying a fee worth around £34million for a defender who’ll likely be called up more than once is a big risk.

That is, especially when Slot is already spending over £70million on bringing Ekitike in after having just one good season.

Of course, only time will tell what the future has in store, but when Guehi is available for only £5million more this summer, it doesn’t make sense for Slot to go for Leoni, no matter how good he may turn out.