Andoni Iraola reveals new date for Giovanni Leoni return as Liverpool comeback delayed

The Italian centre-back has not played since tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee while making his debut under former manager Arne Slot during a Carabao Cup third-round tie against Southampton at Anfield in September 2025.That blow came just weeks after Leoni had joined Liverpool from Serie A club Parma in a transfer worth £26million plus add-ons, with the 19-year-old undergoing surgery and expected to miss around a year of action.He has been stepping up his rehabilitation of late and was expected to return to Reds training during the recent extended three-week international break, to build match fitness and eventually boost Andoni Iraola’s defensive options.However, it did not happen, with Leoni now likely unable to take that significant step until the next international break arrives in November.“It’s taking more time than we wanted,” Liverpool boss Iraola said of Leoni’s comeback when addressing the media ahead of Saturday’s trip to Brentford in the Premier League.“The planning was to train with the team in this past international break [but] probably it’s going to be in the next international break, so we’ve lost one month in the process.Comeback trail: Liverpool defender Giovanni Leoni has been working hard on his rehabilitationGetty“Giovanni’s injury, I wasn’t here but talking to the medical department, it was not just an ACL – it was a bad injury, a lot of things around the knee were involved apart from the ACL.”Iraola was keen to stress that Leoni had not experienced a setback as such, insisting that Liverpool had to exercise sufficient caution with his return after such a long layoff in a bid to avoid any damaging repeat.“He has to be very confident, the rehab process has to be very careful with him and we want to make sure once he comes to the team, he stays there in a good place,” Iraola added.“It’s true that we’ve had, not a setback, but a little bit of a delay, if you want.“The plan now is he starts in the next break. It’s not that far but it’s a little bit later than we expected, yes.”