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Giovanni Leoni's return to light training has boosted the morale of his Liverpool team-mates. The young defender left Reds fans thrilled when he made his debut in the Carabao Cup triumph over Southampton in September. He was poised to stake his claim in Arne Slot's starting XI until a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament brought his season to a premature end.

Slot was devastated to lose the teenager, who joined from Parma for £26million in the summer. However, after undergoing surgery six months ago, Leoni participated in a session of light exercise at the AXA Training Centre and could be observed striking footballs and jogging on the treadmill. This proved a tremendous boost for the Liverpool players, with the likes of fellow summer signing Hugo Ekitike responding to the youngster's recent social media upload.

On his Instagram account, Leoni shared a series of images from his light session. He could be spotted in the gym, striking a ball on the pitch and jogging on a treadmill.

His fifth photograph was a dark screen with the words "everything happens for a reason" written in white writing in the middle of the page.

A number of Liverpool players publicly demonstrated their support to the central defender.

Ekitike commented "soon back my brother" accompanied by a red heart and a praying emoji. Conor Bradley, who was amongst the first players to comfort Leoni when he sustained his season-ending injury against the Saints, posted a flexed bicep emoji and a red heart.

Ibrahima Konate also shared two red heart emojis and a handshake, while Reds captain Virgil van Dijk posted a flexed bicep and a heart.

Stefan Bajcetic, Curtis Jones, Rio Ngumoha and Milos Kerkez also conveyed their own emoji-laden tributes in the comments section.

In January, Leoni told La Gazzetta dello Sport that he had surmounted the most challenging part of his recovery. He also recalled the night his worst fears were realised.

He stated: "As soon as I hit the ground, I told Conor Bradley, my team-mate: 'I tore my cruciate ligament'.

"It had never happened to me before, but it was a strange feeling. I thought: 'That's it, period'. It was a huge, intense pain, the strongest I've ever felt in my life."

Regarding his recovery, Leoni added: "The hardest part is over now. I'm doing rehab, swimming, and the gym. For a footballer, an injury like this can be the hardest moment of their career.

"Now I just want to train my mind to come back stronger than before. I think that's the key: the mind can do most of the work."

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