Danny Murphy has claimed that he doesn’t envisage Liverpool spending ‘huge money’ on Romeo Lavia due to the presence of Trent Alexander-Arnold at Anfield.
The Southampton midfielder has been strongly linked with the Reds in recent days, with Belgian journalist Sacha Tavolieri claiming that their recruitment team will make a move for the 19-year-old their chief focus.
The Saints reportedly want £50m for the teenager, and while there have been indications that LFC could offer 20% less than that (Football Insider), their former player doesn’t expect another big-money addition in that area of the pitch this summer.
Murphy told talkSPORT (via HITC): “I don’t think we will see Liverpool spend huge money on Lavia or another midfield player because of Trent, I don’t.”
With Trent enjoying success after being redeployed in a hybrid right-back/midfield role towards the end of last season, and the additions of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, there’s logic to Murphy’s explanation as to why he can’t see a large outlay being spent on Lavia or another midfielder.
The two new signings, along with the England international’s tactical tweak, have effectively compensated for the summer exits of James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, so the need to strengthen in the middle of the park is now far lesser than what it had been earlier in the year.
The Southampton gem is undoubtedly a very talented young player, but it’d be a massive gamble to spend £40m-£50m on a 19-year-old who only has one season of regular first-team football under his belt (Transfermarkt).
Also, as Fabrizio Romano pointed out recently, Liverpool still want to strengthen their defensive ranks with a left-footed centre-back addition, which could become even more imperative if Nathaniel Phillips were to leave amid reported interest from Feyenoord (The Athletic).
The Reds could viably bring in one more midfielder this summer, although the cost of any such signing would need to be considered within the context of what they hope to do in terms of bolstering the defence.