Liverpool may have just missed out on the perfect Virgil van Dijk successor after what’s just happened

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Liverpool have dominated the transfer market this summer with the Reds signing players to improve their ranks left, right and centre.

A lot of the talent that Liverpool have brought in will fit straight into Arne Slot’s first-team squad, but others, such as Freddie Woodman and Armin Pecsi, will likely be on the sidelines for the foreseeable future.

Although plenty of players have already been brought in, now that the Reds are approaching the £300million spent mark (after Hugo Ekitike’s impending arrival), they’re going to have to find ways to recoup the money they’ve spent.

And, although they know this, that hasn’t stopped Liverpool from exploring the market for even more players to recruit and bolster their ranks.

Liverpool may have missed out on Giovanni Leoni as Inter Milan meet with his agent

One of the last areas that Liverpool could do with bolstering is their centre-backs.

At the moment, Slot only has three senior centre-backs at his disposal as Jarell Quansah was sold to Bayer Leverkusen for a fee worth around £35million.

This clear need for defensive reinforcement has caused rumours to start flying with Liverpool getting linked with players such as Giovanni Leoni and Marc Guehi to join the team.

However, as per a report from Corriere dello Sport via Calcio Mercato, it seems like the Reds’ move for Leoni could be off the table.

That’s because Leoni’s agent, Edoardo Crnjar ‘visited’ Inter Milan’s headquarters on Monday.

The Serie A giants have been one of the main teams competing for his transfer, with Christian Chivu’s men the ones seemingly advancing the deal the most.

Liverpool could still turn towards Marc Guehi this summer

Although Leoni would have arguably been the better move for Liverpool this summer, the transfer of Guehi is still on the table.

The Crystal Palace captain is entering the final year of his deal at Selhurst Park with the Eagles looking to sell their captain for as much money as possible before they lose him for nothing.

Although Liverpool have been strongly linked with a move for the Englishman, the fact that Ibrahima Konate is still one of Slot’s players arguably poses a problem.

And, that’s because, if Guehi were brought in during the summer transfer window, he’d no doubt expect to be a starting XI player for the Reds with his partner likely to be Virgil van Dijk.

This is why Leoni would have been perfect for Liverpool as he’s only 18 years old, he’s 6 foot 4 inches and has a keen eye for a pass.

All of these things play into the fact that he could’ve been the next Van Dijk, that is, if Liverpool were able to acquire his services in the first place, of course.