Liverpool agree a deal with Southampton for Romeo Lavia but face Chelsea competition
As per an exclusive from Jacob Steinberg for the Guardian, Liverpool have agreed a deal worth around £60m for Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia but will face competition from Chelsea.
The report reveals that the Reds have to convince the Belgian international to come to Anfield as he is favouring a move to West London.
It is a quick turn of events because, until the middle of last week, Lavia’s preference was playing for Liverpool. The Reds were not ready to match Southampton’s asking price of £50m for him even after three bids at the time.
To add to that, after failing to get Moises Caicedo even after agreeing on a £111m deal with Brighton, the Reds have left themselves exposed in the transfer market. Chelsea are set to get the Ecuadorian and want to sign Lavia as well.
In a way, Liverpool have burnt some of the bridges with the latter because of how they conducted the pursuit of the former. It is now up to them to act quickly and make sure the player changes his mind again and comes to Anfield.
After seeing how open and easy the Reds were to play through midfield, signing at least two defensive-minded midfielders is a must before the deadline. Although £60m is way more than what Jurgen Klopp’s club wanted to pay for Lavia, they have no choice now after being cornered.
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This is not how the Liverpool recruitment generally works though. It is the first time in a while the club have acted like an amateur entity in the market. They are easily pushed around and it seems like there is no succession plan if things don’t go in line with what they want.
