Romeo Lavia of Southampton was the subject of Liverpool’s third offer, which was turned down, but they are reportedly “getting closer to an agreement.”
This summer, Liverpool has been busy making changes to their midfield. Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai were acquired for about £95 million after James Milner, Naby Keita, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain left after their contracts expired.
But midfield still needs more additions. This is due to the fact that Jordan Henderson and Fabinho recently obtained lucrative transfers to the Saudi Pro League.
Lavia, a young defensive midfielder for Southampton, is thought to be the Premier League’s top target as they look to replace Fabinho.
Lavia enjoyed a breakout season for Southampton last season and he’s also been linked with Arsenal, Chelsea and Man Utd this summer. Southampton have been holding out for £50m this summer and Liverpool are yet to meet this asking price. Several outlets confirmed on Monday afternoon that Liverpool’s third bid for Lavia has been rejected by the Championship outfit
Sky Sports are reporting that ‘talks remain ongoing with Southampton, but the Championship club are thought to be standing firm on their £50m valuation of the 19-year-old
They have also indicated that Chelsea are also ‘interested and keeping an eye on his situation’. The Athletic’s James Pearce meanwhile has taken to Twitter to state: “Latest #LFC offer rejected but clubs getting closer to an agreement. Surely a compromise gets reached. Lavia desperate for the move to happen and Liverpool urgently need a new No 6.” Pearce’s story for The Athletic claims that Liverpool’s latest bid for Lavia is worth around £46m. He added
Fabinho recently left to join Al Ittihad in Saudi Arabia, and Jurgen Klopp has selected the Belgian international as the ideal replacement. ‘However, talks with Southampton have dragged on with the Championship club standing stubbornly to their valuation of £50million.
Liverpool thinks the number is exaggerated for a 19-year-old who has only played one season of senior football.
Officials at Anfield must now choose whether to up their offer once more or move on to different targets.
Lavia was not used as a substitute in Southampton’s Championship debut against Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night. Lavia is eager to finalize the transfer to Liverpool.
According to Southampton CEO Phil Parsons, they won’t be “selling assets on the cheap” this summer.
“We won’t be offering our assets for a bargain. That’s why we were adamant about a few. Many players will be developed over the upcoming years, and some of them will join top-four clubs, Parsons said on BBC Radio Solent.
However, we won’t do it for a bargain; rather, we’ll charge the going rate. We will consider any offers made by clubs. We won’t be accepting any offer that comes through the door outright.
