Liverpool have reportedly tested Southampton’s resolves once again with a fourth bid for Romeo Lavia.
CBS Sports’ Ben Jacobs tweeted on Monday night that the Reds were understood to have improved on their rejected third offer of £46m.
The Saints are holding out for their £50m valuation of the Belgian holding midfielder, a player who, in their eyes, is viewed as the leading young number six in world football.
READ MORE: Southampton make Lavia position clear ahead of third Liverpool bid
Whilst Liverpool’s negotiation skills have previously been the envy of the English top-flight – most notably under the tenure of transfer guru and former sporting director Michael Edwards – our recent efforts have proved more reminiscent of flea market haggling than expert negotiation.
As much as Monty Python’s Harry the Haggler may insist ‘we’re supposed to haggle’ – it simply doesn’t give the impression of a club in any hurry to fill a key position in the squad.
Indeed, as things currently, stand we look set to field Alexis Mac Allister as a stopgap number six until we can find a better solution in the market. Or, presumably, until Stefan Bajcetic returns to full fitness.
With the club’s fourth offer sure to have improved on an unsatisfactory £46m bid, it does come to the point – now FIVE days before the visit to Chelsea – where we simply just have to pay the money and move on.
Sometimes, it’s just not worth the haggle. Sorry, Harry.
#Ep83 of The Empire of the Kop Podcast: EOTK Insider with Neil Jones