Mancini travels to England, but Italy and Liverpool still waiting for Leoni’s return

La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Roberto Mancini travelled to England in recent weeks in hopes of seeing Giovanni Leoni back in action, but the Italian defender’s return from an ACL injury has been delayed.

Italy and Liverpool are still waiting for Leoni’s return to action.

Latest Leoni injury update as Mancini travels to England

The Italian defender has been sidelined for over a year after suffering a cruciate ligament injury in September 2025, and his comeback has been postponed.

Last month, Andoni Iraola said Leoni would return to group training during the long September-October break. However, as Liverpool.com reported, Leoni’s recovery has taken longer than anticipated.

According to Gazzetta, Italy coach Mancini recently travelled to England to watch several Italian players in action, hoping to see Leoni on the pitch, but the defender is still not ready to return.

The Italy coach hopes Liverpool doctors will give the ex-Parma defender the green light after the November break.

Leoni earned his first Italy call-up in September 2025 under Gennaro Gattuso, just weeks before he suffered an ACL injury on his Liverpool debut.

Leoni hasn’t yet made his senior Azzurri debut and has only one appearance for the Reds.

READ MORE – Debutants, returnees, doubts and omissions: Predicting Mancini’s Italy call-ups