Giovanni Leoni spoke of the “indescribable feeling” of receiving his first Italy call-up for September, before being left out of both games by head coach Gennaro Gattuso.
Leoni had not expected to be included in the Italy senior squad for this month’s World Cup qualifiers against Estonia and Israel.
But after being drafted into Gattuso’s 27-man selection, the Liverpool defender told Vivo Azzurro TV that “it fills me with pride to be part of this group.”
Unfortunately, his involvement during the September break was limited to the training pitch, with Leoni watching both games from the stands.
That included a remarkable 5-4 win over Israel on Monday night, with Gattuso’s only change to his back four from the 5-0 thrashing of Estonia days previous being the introduction of Gianluca Mancini for Riccardo Calafiori.
Gattuso had made clear ahead of the break that he felt Leoni was ready to contribute, but the 18-year-old did not even make the bench.
He instead named two goalkeepers among his substitutes, while Giovanni Fabbian and Marco Carnesecchi were also not called upon for either fixture.
It means Leoni’s wait for game time continues, having not played since former club Parma’s 2-1 friendly loss to German side Heidenheim on August 9.
Bar any issues to Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez, he is not likely to debut for Liverpool until the Carabao Cup third-round clash with Southampton on September 23.
While there is a confidence in the teenager’s ability to step up – which lessened the impact of a failed move for Marc Guehi on deadline day – Leoni will still be eased into action.
There is even a chance he could pick up minutes with the U21s or even the U19s in the UEFA Youth League in the coming weeks.
Liverpool’s youth side will play six times in the UEFA Youth League, as opposed to the first team’s eight games in the Champions League league phase, corresponding with the first six fixtures of the senior tournament.
That means home clashes with Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid and PSV Eindhoven and away trips to Galatasaray, Eintracht Frankfurt and Inter Milan.
Leoni will still have benefited from his time away with the Italy squad, including working closely with legendary centre-back Leonardo Bonucci – who is now Gattuso’s assistant.
“Here in the national team I spoke to Bonucci, he gave me some advice since he was a great defender,” he told Vivo Azzurro TV.
“I’ve always liked his leadership and his ability to play with the ball.”
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