One thing to consider with this deal is the timeframe. At 21, Leoni will be a homegrown player, which will undoubtedly be a huge advantage and will significantly increase his value, at least in England.
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https://x.com/davidlynchlfc/status/1955953786427408783
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Robbo to come down and greet him with “Finally we got a good Italian footballer”
Does seem like with defenders like Huijsen, Yoro, Zabarnayi and now Leoni , We are seeing a trend where teams prefer to get in defenders young. Even if they are 2-3 years before entering their prime.
I think the biggest thing that points to is how far Parma have fallen that every other fee there is from 20-25 years ago
Although amusingly I read a stat yesterday that Anelka to Real is still supposedly Arsenal’s second highest sale
A few training sessions in the international break will sort some of the rough edges but the basics are there.great acquisition he handled Lukaku well in that game and he is no slouch.
Would be probably good to see how he rates up against someone like Bastoni when Bastoni was in his 19-20’s.
Player Comparison: Alessandro Bastoni vs. Giovanni Leoni vs. Virgil van Dijk | FBref.com
This is Bastoni at age 19 vs Leoni at age 17. Their first major seasons. Incidentally both were in Parma. This isn’t everything ofcourse. People who want to make some sense of these stats can probably try their best.
2 years age difference is a lot of gap when it comes to a development of a player/
Bastoni just isnt a good a measuring stick to use with anyone as he really is the modern day Bergomi in terms of how early he developed into a clearly top defender. So even for someone getting a move to Liverpool at 18, Leoni is some way behind where Bastoni was at this stage in his career and there is just a lot less of a track record to look at. He got no recognition with Italy youth teams until he started playing senior footballing in Serie B, which is typically an indication of a player who went under the radar with scouts. In comparison, by that point in his development Bastoni had been capped by every age group and was already playing in Serie A for Inter.
Lots of good, bad, and ugly in there.
From 2016-2018. Bastoni played a total of 7 matches. That’s the same age as what Leoni is in right now.
And I do agree with @Limiescouse that Bastoni blossomed really quickly and really early into an elite defender. But he didn’t play those many matches at the starting of his career. And rightfully so.
But you are right. Bastoni played entirely in Serie A whereas Leoni’s two seasons consisted of him playing one season in Serie B and one season in Serie A
Assume he would be involved in their U21 side at least
I seriously doubt that…
It is. He has about 20 top flight appearances to his name. We generally look for a minimum of 100 games of the right level of quality for a player we’re bringing in for the first team and his Serie B and C games are too low a standard to count towards that.
When we make a move earlier than that it is generally an indication that the player is not being earmarked for an important role immediately so we have some wiggle room and opportunity to address a move that doesnt work out in a subsequent window before the player is needed to contribute. That heavily implies he’s being earmarked as 5th from 5.
For this season. Yes. But considering that Gomez will get injured almost immediately. He will be the effective 4th choice CB.
I’m happy to be going into this season with 4+1 CB’s though. Especially considering Gomez’s injury prone nature.
