Neil Jones has emphatically reassured Liverpool fans that the club are ‘definitely’ taking a ‘strong interest’ in a summer move for Romeo Lavia.
There had been reports from The Athletic that the Reds aren’t pursuing the Southampton midfielder as they ‘do not believe they have a gap to fill currently’ and have baulked at the Saints’ £50m asking price.
However, while another reliable source in Jones also iterated the latter point, he’s stated that they’re certainly interested in the player, who’s earning £25,000 per week at St Mary’s (Spotrac).
Speaking to CaughtOffside, the journalist said: “In terms of Lavia, I can confirm that there is definitely strong interest there, as has been well documented.
“It’s been a few months now that he’s been on Liverpool’s list, but a big question will be with the fee Southampton ask for – some reports are suggesting it could be around £50m, and I think Liverpool will feel that’s a bit high for a player who’s 19 years of age and played only 36 games in his professional club career.
“Obviously there are other clubs interested as well, and Arsenal, as I understand it, plan to go quite strongly for Lavia once they get Declan Rice over the line this week.
“It’s a tricky deal for Liverpool, but there’s no doubt they want him, so it’ll just come down to whether or not the right financial deal can be agreed with Southampton, and what other clubs want to do.”
While there may be conflicting reports as to just how intent Liverpool are on pursuing Lavia, one consistent theme appears to be that they believe Southampton’s asking price is excessive.
That’s a justified stance given that the 19-year-old only has one season of senior football under his belt, whereas Alexis Mac Allister – who’s won the World Cup with Argentina and starred for Brighton last term in helping them to qualify for Europe – only cost the Reds an initial £35m (BBC Sport).
If Jorg Schmadtke and Jurgen Klopp are very much serious about trying to sign the Belgian, the former will probably be involved in a series of back-and-forth with the Saints as he possibly tries to negotiate them into accepting a price which’d be more to LFC’s liking.
Lavia could be a fine prospective addition for Liverpool, but they must be careful not to overpay for the youngster if they believe Southampton’s valuation is overly steep.