‘Agreed a deal’ – Arne Slot issues Leoni and Guehi transfer updates ahead of Bournemouth clash | OneFootball

Arne Slot was prepared for questions about two prospective Liverpool signings from the moment that he walked into the media room at the AXA Training Center on Thursday morning.

The Reds have commenced talks with Crystal Palace regarding a potential £35m deal for Marc Guehi (The Times), who’s understood to be in favour of joining the Premier League champions, who he helped to vanquish in the Community Shield last weekend.

LFC are much further along in their pursuit of Giovanni Leoni, with Fabrizio Romano reporting on Wednesday night (via X) that a €35m (£30.1m) deal has been agreed with Parma for the 18-year-old, who’s expected to fly into Merseyside today and undergo a medical.

Slot addresses Guehi and Leoni transfer status

Slot spoke to the media this morning in his pre-match press conference ahead of the Premier League opener against Bournemouth on Friday night, and he was immediately asked about those two prospective transfers.

The Dutchman was unusually candid as to where things stand with Leoni but unsurprisingly batted off one reporter’s follow-up question about Guehi.

The 46-year-old said (via Liverpool FC on YouTube): “The clubs have agreed a deal [for Leoni] but he hasn’t signed for us yet. The moment that he signs for us, I can go into more detail.

“The other one [Guehi] is of course the answer you always get from me. He’s not our player and unfortunately he was the captain of the team we lost against last Sunday. If you want to talk about him, you should go to Palace and [Oliver] Glasner and ask his opinion about him.”

(Photo by Emmanuele Ciancaglini/Getty Images)

Slot was unusually candid with Leoni transfer update

Slot is almost always diplomatic when asked about transfers in press conferences, so for him to reply that a deal has been agreed for Leoni was refreshingly transparent and offers perhaps the strongest hint yet that the Italian’s signing is imminent.

The Liverpool head coach was naturally more opaque about Guehi, which suggests that there’s still plenty of work to be done behind the scenes before any move for the Crystal Palace captain is completed.

The Dutchman must privately be delighted and relieved that the Italian youngster is set to join his squad, which currently has just three centre-backs, one of whom (Joe Gomez) is only just back in training after a recent Achilles injury which curtailed his involvement in the pre-season tour to Asia.

The imminent signing of Leoni isn’t just a case of the Reds bulking up their quantity of defensive options, either – legendary former Milan coach Arrigo Sacchi hailed the 18-year-old as a ‘great coup’ who has already ‘demonstrated the qualities needed to go far’ at the highest level of the game.

That arrival will essentially cancel out the £30m departure of Jarell Quansah to Bayer Leverkusen, and hopefully the Merseysiders might also complete a deal for Guehi before the transer window shuts on 1 September!