Liverpool faces a significant Romeo Lavia question, and a £50 million response might not be adequate.

With a week to go until the start of the Premier League season, Liverpool remain without a holding midfielder and have big questions to answer.

Liverpool have long prided themselves on their efficiency in the transfer market.

Avoiding drawn-out sagas, targets are identified months in advance with the club moving quickly to land their desired would-be Reds – and without paying over the odds.

Meanwhile, outgoing players have often been sold for hefty fees, with Philippe Coutinho’s £142m switch to Barcelona the best example. Dominic Solanke’s £24m move to AFC Bournemouth, Rhian Brewster’s £23.5m transfer to Sheffield United and Neco Williams’ £17m exit to Nottingham Forest are some of the most lauded business.

Consequently, Liverpool are rarely seen concluding incoming deals once the action really gets underway, with it inevitably the preference to have most signings snapped up before the start of pre-season. But this summer, has some of the club’s mythical transfer magic worn off?

From Jurgen Klopp’s 28 summer signings since taking over as Reds manager in October 2015, 22 were completed well before the start of the Premier League season, with 12 even confirmed in advance of officially becoming Liverpool players on July 1. And while the club’s latest signing, Dominik Szoboszlai, was signed on July 2, that’s still in advance of the start of pre-season.

Consequently, Klopp has only signed seven players in August during his time at Anfield. Even then, Kostas Tsimikas’ arrival fell before the club’s first pre-season friendly in the summer of 2020 in unprecedented Covid times. Thiago Alcantara and Diogo Jota would join the Greek the following month, days after the Reds’ mid-September Premier League opener, but this is the exception rather than the rule.

Which leaves us with just four traditional August signings – Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Adrian, Andy Lonergan and Arthur Melo.

The England international had been targeted before his 2017 deadline day move, and already had his sights set on a move to Anfield. Snubbing Chelsea, Liverpool took advantage of Oxlade-Chamberlain only having a year left on his Arsenal contract to sign him for £35m and make him Klopp’s only big-money August addition.

But when it comes to the other three, two veteran goalkeepers snapped up on Bosman transfers, one after a player exit and the other after injury, and a deadline day emergency loan signing following a midfield injury crisis. Even then, Adrian was still signed before the start of the Premier League season.

Yet, with little over a week to go until Klopp’s men start their latest domestic campaign away at Chelsea, the club are already in uncharted territory. In dire need of multiple August arrivals, a long-awaited midfield overhaul has grown more and more desperate.

For over 18 months, the club waited in hope of signing Jude Bellingham. Also snubbed by Aurelien Tchouameni, they opted to hold out for the right recruit as a revamp was delayed until 2023.

But by then the Reds had found themselves in a year of transition. Missing out on the top four, their existing midfield options were predominantly ageing stars, injury-prone players, and soon-to-be free agents. There might have been a sprinkle of raw potential in talented youth, but Liverpool’s midfield was on the decline.

Aware they would be unable to rely on the draw and riches of Champions League football, the club backed out of the race to sign Bellingham in April. The following month, it was confirmed that James Milner, Naby Keita, and Oxlade-Chamberlain would all leave on Bosman transfers.

Turning their attentions elsewhere when it came to recruitment, the Reds did stick to their previous tried methods as Alexis Mac Allister and Szoboszlai were snapped up before the start of pre-season. Yet releases clauses aided such pursuits, before unexpected Saudi Arabian interest reared its head, and Liverpool were left chaotically racing against the clock.

Sanctioning Jordan Henderson’s £12m move to Al-Ettifaq and Fabinho’s £40m switch to Al-Ittihad certainly make sense from a business point of view. But neither switch was envisaged when club bosses were drawing up their summer transfer plans, as Klopp now finds himself without a senior holding defensive midfielder and just six first team options on the eve of the new season.

It might not be for lack of trying, having had two bids rejected for Southampton’s Romeo Lavia. But the scenario Liverpool currently find themselves in, left desperately short and forced to field square pegs in round holes, makes a mockery of their previously prided position. With eight days to go until their own opener, the Reds simply aren’t ready for the start of the new season.

The pursuit of Lavia perhaps grates most. Having already been earmarked as a potential long-term replacement for Fabinho, Liverpool were put off by Southampton’s £50m asking price. It seems they still are, though the Brazilian’s unforeseen exit has forced hands somewhat.

A first offer for Lavia comprising an initial £34m plus £4m in add-ons was rejected last month, with a second package worth an overall £41m knocked back earlier this week. When time is of the essence ahead of the new season, a marginal £3m improvement, still well short of the apparent asking price, prompted groans from frustrated Kopites.

Considering Lavia is still only 19 and has made just 29 top-flight appearances, it is understandable why Liverpool would be reluctant to make the Belgian the sixth-most expensive player in their history. After all, the club prefers their big-money arrivals to have played somewhere between 150 and 200 senior games by the time they move to Anfield.

But beggars can’t be choosers in what has become a selling market thanks to Saudi intervention, with Enzo Fernandez and Declan Rice, both moving for over £100m, also initiating a ripple effect that set extravagant prices elsewhere.