Liverpool summer signing Giovanni Leoni has been compared to their captain Virgil van Dijk.

Liverpool have been told that Giovanni Leoni is the long-term replacement for Virgil van Dijk - by the man who helped sign him for Parma.

The Reds splashed out £26 million to sign the centre-back from the Italian club in the summer transfer window. It was a significant fee for someone aged only 18 and has played on 17 senior matches in his career.

However, Leoni’s impressive performances for Parma were enough to convince the Anfield hierarchy. He helped the Crusaders retain their Serie A status after promotion, with the highlight for Leoni being a clean sheet in a 0-0 draw against Napoli - nullifying the threat of Romelu Lukaku.

Van Dijk has been the linchpin of Liverpool returning to the top of European football since being signed for £75 million from Southampton in January 2018. He’s won seven major trophies with the Reds, including the Champions League and two Premier League crowns.

With van Dijk now aged 34, Liverpool will have to find an heir apparent in the coming years. And Martin Semmens, a former Parma executive who also previously served as Southampton’s chief executive, is confident that Leoni is capable of doing so. And given that Liverpool did not call Semmens for a reference, unlike several other Premier League clubs who were interested, it underlines how highly he is rated.

What’s been said

Speaking on talkSPORT, Semmens said: “Absolutely for me. We signed him the second year I was there in the summer, and I have a deep love for the likes of [Newcastle defender] Tino Livramento [for Southampton] and signing these young players. Romeo Lavia: This was the same kind of deal.

"I think it was clearly the best young centre back in Italy, if not Europe. And again, we sold him the vision to come to our club to play in Serie A. I think it was 17 when he started playing, and then when the right moment comes, you will go. Our understanding was the same with the keeper we bought, [Zion] Suzuki the Japanese keeper. Man United tried to buy him. That's a rumour I can semi-confirm.

"The view was that they would probably stay there longer than one year, but Leoni was such a level, and again, I think it highlights Liverpool's ability that they spotted that. There were other clubs in the Premier League that asked me about him - not as an executive for Parma because I'd left by then, and I told them what I thought, and they didn't follow through on it. Liverpool never called me.

"Five or six Premier League teams asked me. I told them he's as good as Virgil. Liverpool never called me, never asked for a reference, because they've got such an ability to find those players. Top player!"

"He took Lukaku out of the game. We went to Napoli needing to get a point, and he marked him out of the game. I've never seen anything like it - just literally knocked him over! I spent my life losing to the likes of Troy [Deeney] and Lukaku's bullying our centre-backs, and Leoni could do it.

"So I think he's a top player. I don't understand the pathway for him in terms of whether he'll play this year or not. But at some point, yeah, I think he's the long-term [replacement for Van Dijk]."