Liverpool are expected to submit a second transfer offer for Romeo Lavia this week, and the figure being mooted could seemingly be enough to give the Reds a real chance of getting a deal done soon.
Fabrizio Romano wrote in his latest Daily Briefing for CaughtOffside that a bid of £45m for the 19-year-old is likely to be tabled in the coming days, with Southampton rejecting the initial £37m attempt.
Speaking on the Ranks FC Ultras Podcast, another journalist in Dean Jones has hinted that the anticipated second offer could give LFC ‘a chance’ of succeeding this time around.
The transfer reporter said: “Liverpool are moving forwards with their pursuit of Lavia, and I have to admit I would be surprised if Liverpool didn’t end up signing Lavia. The big problem right now is that Lavia is rated at £50m by Southampton and not quite that amount by Liverpool.
“They are preparing a second approach and I was always told that around £40m you have a chance of getting Lavia.”
Going by Jones’ comments, Liverpool’s first bid may have been just £3m short of what Southampton would’ve deemed acceptable, so the Reds should be able to make up the shortfall and then some with a proposed second offer.
If the claim that they’d ‘have a chance’ of signing the 19-year-old for ‘around £40m’ is accurate, and the Merseysiders table the £45m that Romano has projected, that should be enough to convince the Saints to at least open negotiations regarding the eventual fee.
The Italian tweeted this morning that the Belgium midfielder has given the ‘green light’ to a move to Anfield, so it appears to be just a matter of the two clubs agreeing a mutually acceptable price and then the final small details being sorted.
Liverpool have been freshly bankrolled to the tune of £40m from the sale of Fabinho to Al-Ittihad (Sky Sports), so the overwhelming majority of that financial top-up could go straight towards a prospective deal for Lavia.
It’s taken quite a few weeks, but the various stars finally seem to be aligning for the Reds to secure their third midfield signing of the summer in the Southampton starlet.
#Ep83 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones