Why those who know best believe Giovanni Leoni is a coup for Liverpool
Liverpool believe they have pulled off an almighty coup. In fact, they think they are signing the best young defender on the market. Andrea Pirlo and Arrigo Sacchi are among those that agree.
It only takes a spark to start an inferno and that was the case when L'Equipe suggested recently that Bradley Barcola and Liverpool was a relationship in waiting.
Barcola is a wonderful talent, the kind of teenager who you can be sure will be making waves in the biggest games for many years to come. He more than played his part in helping Paris St Germain sweep the board last season.
The inference was that £100m would be the magic number to get PSG to do business with Liverpool, particularly if they had to admit defeat in their attempt to land Aleksander Isak (for clarity, you need it: they haven't).
There is no doubt Barcola is recognised as a fabulous player by Liverpool's recruitment team - a blindfolded man in a pitch black room with no windows could see that - but he won't be reporting into Merseyside any time soon.
The reason? Rio Ngumoha. Liverpool absolutely will not block their prodigy's path and he will sign his first professional contract at Anfield when he turns 17 on August 29 - it will be some of the most important business Liverpool have done all summer.
So while Barcola is thrilling, Liverpool won't for a second entertain lavishing a nine-figure fee on him when they believe they have a young man who could, in time, be headed right to the very top.
