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Centre-back excelled on debut against Southampton Arne Slot predicts Leoni will be out for ‘around a year’ Arne Slot has confirmed Giovanni Leoni will miss the rest of the season after tearing an anterior cruciate ligament on his Liverpool debut. The 18-year-old central defender, signed from Parma last month for £26m, sustained the injury towards the end of an assured performance against Southampton in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday and immediate concerns over a lengthy layoff have been realised. Leoni, recently called up to the Italy squad for the first time, faces surgery and an extensive rehabilitation period. Sign up to Football Daily Kick off your evenings with the Guardian's take on the world of football after newsletter promotion “He is not in a good place, of course, because he tore his ACL and it means he will be out for around a year, ” said Slot on Friday. “Being so young, coming to a new country and playing so well in your first game … it’s very hard to take the positive side. There’s never a positive side but he is still so young so he has many years to go after he recovers from a terrible injury like that. ” Slot confirmed that Liverpool intended to add Federico Chiesa to their squad list for the Champions League’s league phase after Leoni’s injury. New Uefa rules allow an outfield player unavailable for 60 days or more to be replaced. Hugo Ekitiké has not been fined for the red card against Southampton that means he misses the trip to Palace. The forward received a second booking for taking off his shirt after scoring. Slot said of disciplining him: “I spoke to him but if disciplined means a fine then, no, he didn’t get that. It wasn’t smart what he did. He recognised that straight away and said sorry to his teammates. You are allowed at this club to make a mistake without immediately getting fined. ”