Manchester City could inadvertently ease Liverpool’s path to sign Romeo Lavia as one of their academy stars looks set to join Southampton as the Belgium international’s replacement in midfield.
Liverpool have made Lavia their top defensive midfield target having already secured the signings of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai as part of their midfield rebuild this summer.
Nice star Kephren Thuram was also heavily linked with a move to Anfield but the Reds’ interest has gone ‘cold’ as they were ‘not happy with the reaction’ of both the player and club in negotiations.
The Saints value Lavia at £45m and the 19-year-old’s switch to Anfield could be accelerated by Man City, who are in talks with Southampton over the transfer of their academy graduate Shea Charles.
The Daily Mail report that the Northern Ireland international will undergo his Southampton medical on Tuesday ahead of finalising a deal worth up to £15m with sell-on and buy-back clauses.
Liverpool could though still face competition for Lavia from Chelsea, who could ‘revert’ to the teenager they made a £50m deadline day bid for last summer if they fail to agree a deal with Brighton for Moises Caicedo, with the Seagulls not budging as things stand on their £100m valuation of the Ecuador international.
Last week transfer expert Ben Jacobs explained why Liverpool want Lavia over Thuram, who no longer plays in the position Jurgen Klopp wants to strengthen this summer.
Jacobs said: “So the price was not an issue, it’s not why they haven’t moved, but [Dominik] Szoboszlai’s come in and Thuram is seen to be the wrong kind of player.
“Now, sometimes we’re all guilty of only watching small parts or looking at a few statistics and saying, can’t both be a possibility?
“But, Thuram started his career as a defensive midfielder but doesn’t now play in that position.
“And Szoboszlai comes in who is an aggressive passer, who is dynamic, box-to-box and Liverpool’s focus now will be around getting a midfield destroyer, a traditional number six.”
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