Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that Romeo Lavia’s entourage remains in contact with a host of clubs including Premier League duo Liverpool and Arsenal.
The Merseysiders, on their end, do appear to be prioritising moves for Khephren Thuram and (or) Ryan Gravenberch, both of whom are participating in the European U21 Championship.
“Elsewhere, there was also news of Liverpool joining the race for Romeo Lavia yesterday. On the player side, they are speaking to many clubs including both Liverpool and Arsenal,” the Guardian reporter exclusively informed CaughtOffside.
“Nothing is decided yet, and it’s also important to remember that Southampton want an important fee close to £50m.
“Arsenal have an excellent relationship with his agents but it’s not just about that. This doesn’t impact Liverpool’s pursuit of Khephren Thuram, he remains on their list at this stage.”
The timeline of any potential transfers will most certainly be impacted by the tournament, though Empire of the Kop has been informed that the more significant delays to a potential deal will likely come from the club side in regard to the Nice star.
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Much in a similar vein of thought to our reported interest in Nicolo Barella, we have some qualms about the prospect of signing a relatively diminutive (at 5’11”) midfielder in the Southampton star.
This certainly stands in stark contrast to the aforementioned pair of looming giants in Thuram and Gravenberch – standing at 6’4″ and 6’3″ respectively.
Of course, it’s not all down to height and we’d be hugely disappointed if that was at the top of the list of priorities underpinning our search for a midfield follow-up to Alexis Mac Allister.
That said, when the biggest criticisms levelled against the department in question last term included a lack of legs, dynamism and physicality, we’d be inclined to argue that height is a necessary consideration.
Building a dominant midfield of technically gifted players who are confident ball carriers and contribute to battles on the pitch may very well depend in large part on that particular factor.