Romeo Lavia, a former Manchester City midfielder, is still a target for Liverpool this summer.
With just over a week until the start of the new Premier League season, Liverpool still lack a top-class midfielder.
After signing Jordan Henderson and Fabinho for a combined £52m after sudden interest from Saudi Arabia, and with Stefan Bajcetic just set to return to training following injury in At the end of the season in April, Jurgen Klopp had to use Trent. Alexander-Arnold and Curtis Jones lost the Reds’ sixth place in pre-season.
Such a situation is far from ideal, and although the Germans have repeatedly admitted that the club seek to fill such gaps, it still leaves them with a clear gap to fill. before the new season.
In an ideal world, Liverpool have completed the signing of Romeo Lavia from Southampton. The Belgium international has been identified as a potential long-term replacement for Fabinho, but the Red Devils were turned down by the Saints’ £50m bid. But once Henderson and the Brazilian were gone, the 19-year-old became a priority.
So far, Liverpool have made two offers for Lavia but both have failed to meet the £50m asking price. The first bid was initially worth £34m, with an additional £4m, while a second bid worth a total of £41m was placed earlier this week.
Given the Reds’ urgent need for a midfielder, the news of a late improved offer is worth just £3m more than the initially rejected offer, which naturally makes Kopites lament. breath. With Liverpool currently weighing their options, with Fluminense’s Andre Trindade emerging as an alternative target, it remains to be seen whether they can find a breakthrough in negotiations with Southampton.
DietDrops Wellness-Review
Great:
The new slimming product that Britons are snapping up
smart bed
Change your old bed – Smart bed prices might surprise you!
by TaboolaSponsored Links
In the meantime, Lavia’s season will kick off Friday night when the Saints travel to Sheffield on Wednesday for the start of their new Championship campaign. The Belgian is expected to participate unless an offer is accepted before the match begins.
“Do I think they will be Southampton players at the end of the transfer window? I don’t know,” Southampton boss Russell Martin said when asked about the future of Lavia and captain James Ward-Prourage. “What I hope for and what I think is probably very different.
“However, it makes no sense if I say that I think they will be there or that I am not because in the end I really have no control over that. If neither is available at some point or if one of them is not, it is because both the club and the player have something to do with the world.
“I think that’s why it’s lasted so far and I think it can continue, but both of them when they were here were amazing, at very different stages in their lives. their careers.”
It is understandable why Liverpool are reluctant to pay £50m for Lavia. The Red Devils have never spent more than this fee on Virgil van Dijk, Darwin Nunez, Alisson Becker, Dominik Szoboszlai and Naby Keita in their entire history.
Meanwhile, Luis Diaz, Diogo Jota, Cody Gakpo, Mohamed Salah and Fabinho were the only players who cost Liverpool more than their initial £38m offer for Lavia. However, all of these stars are far more experienced than the Belgium international when he moved to Anfield.
The club likes their big players having played between 150 and 200 senior games by the time they join the club. In contrast, the teenager made just 36 senior appearances, including 34 in his first season at St. Mary’s.
Lavia may have a high limit and be a long-term solution to keeping the midfielder at Liverpool, but it is clear that they do not want to break their reliable transfer model when things are still stable.
But if the Reds’ own assessment of the player is justified, it’s also clear why Southampton are waiting £50m for a player they initially spent just £10.5m, reaching his potential 14m. table 13 months ago. And for Liverpool, some of their opponents are also partly responsible.
First, former club Manchester City. They have included a 20% sale clause in the deal to bring Lavia to the South Coast, and have options to match all accepted offers this summer and buy the player for 40 million. table in 2024.
While it is unclear whether this sale clause accounts for 20% of the total fee or any profits Southampton make from the player, it has clearly contributed to the Saints’ valuation of them. Should they accept Liverpool’s initial offer of £34m, City could be entitled to £4.7m, depending on the internal complexity of the aforementioned transfer terms.
On the other hand, if City were to enjoy only 20% of the profits, the full £50m fee could translate into £7.9m bankroll. Such a number might mean nothing at Etihad, but that deduction makes all the difference in St. Mary’s as Southampton look to secure an immediate return to the Premier League. And the gap between that opening price and the Saints’ asking price is the difference between Southampton pocketing £29.3m and £42.1m. No wonder they took into account what City would owe when setting their fee.
Besides, if Liverpool are not willing to pay £50m, rivals from Chelsea and Manchester United can at least make offers closer to what Southampton want. And if no deal is struck, they could still demand £40m next summer thanks to City’s buyout clause.
So how did the Saints settle for £50m? Well, they have rejected such an offer before, turning down an offer from Chelsea on the last day of the transfer window last September, just two months after signing Lavia from Man City in the first place. head. If a club valued him at £50m last summer, club owners are clearly wondering why they can’t claim it now, especially since he He’s proven himself in the Premier League and he’s a high-profile international player.
Meanwhile, the midfield landscape is currently too high after Chelsea rattled the market by signing Enzo Fernandez for a Premier League record £106.7m in January on full payment terms. his liberation from Benfica.
Since then, Real Madrid have signed Jude Bellingham in a £115m deal from Borussia Dortmund, Arsenal have signed a £100m deal, with £5m in extra, to bring in. Declan Rice from West Ham United, and Brighton & Hove Albion continue to demand £100m for Moises Caicedo. Meanwhile, Chelsea can demand up to £60m from Manchester United for Mason Mount, despite the England international’s contract expiring next summer.
Lavia may not boast of the experience of these midfielders, but he still has a year left in the Premier League. He is still capable of achieving local status in English football. Thus, it all contributes to a bounty, with selling clubs able to refer to any of the aforementioned deals in Fernandez’s chain reaction when making their own claims.
Add to that the wealth of the Saudi Pro League, with the four biggest clubs backed by PIF, owners of Newcastle United, the transfer window is now a seller’s club market. Of course, Liverpool made a profit by selling Fabinho to Al-Ittihad for £40m, but now they are feeling the power of his ripple effect.
These outrageous fees led them to turn to Alexis Mac Allister and Szoboszlai as they were able to take advantage of release clauses of £35m and £60m respectively. But despite Lavia having stated his desire to move to Anfield, there is no such provision to capitalize on this period.
The Red Devils may not value Lavia at £50m but Southampton are sticking to their target. Only time will tell if the two clubs can find a way out of their transfer impasse in the coming weeks.
