Arne Slot has confirmed Giovanni Leoni will miss the rest of the season after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear during Liverpool’s EFL Cup tie against Southampton.

The 18-year-old defender, who joined from Parma in the summer for a reported £26m (€29.7m) plus add-ons, played 80 minutes on his Reds debut before sustaining the injury.

Liverpool, who failed to complete the signing of Marc Guehi on deadline day, are now left with Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate and Joe Gomez as recognised centre-back options until the January transfer window.

Slot’s side have won all their matches this season since their Community Shield defeat to Crystal Palace, but the Dutch manager was downcast when speaking about Leoni.

“He is not in a good place because he tore his ACL which means he will be out for a year,” Slot said on Friday, ahead of Saturday's trip to Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

“Being so young and coming to a new country and playing so well in your first game, it's very hard to take the positives.

“There is never a positive side, but you try to look at that, and he is still so young and he has so many years still to go after he recovers from a terrible injury.”

Slot also confirmed that Federico Chiesa, who assisted both goals in their 2-1 win against Southampton, will replace Leoni in Liverpool’s Champions League squad.