Liverpool have already spent around £100m on their first two signings of the summer, and the Reds are pushing for a new midfield arrival after losing several senior stars.
Jurgen Klopp’s midfield rebuild at Liverpool this summer will continue with a push for Romeo Lavia.
The Liverpool manager has already made two additions as he looks to prepare his squad for an upcoming Europa League season. Alexis Mac Allister arrives from Brighton, while Dominik Szoboszlai is the Reds’ new number eight following his move from RB Leipzig.
However, after losing several midfielders, more corps are needed. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita, James Milner and Arthur Melo were all suspended from last season’s squad, and Southampton star Lavia could help prop up Klopp in a key area.
According to talkSPORT, Liverpool are preparing an opening bid for the 19-year-old. Southampton are said to have valued Lavia at £50million, with Klopp’s side set to compete with Chelsea for the ex-Manchester City star.
City themselves introduced a 20% sell clause when they let the Belgian move to Southampton last summer. They also have a buyout clause which comes into effect in 2024, but other clubs seem to want to act now and take that out of the equation.
Lavia made 29 appearances for Southampton last season and retained a mid-table spot under various managers. He scored his first senior goal in August in a 2-1 win over Chelsea.
Lavia’s last Premier League game for Southampton came against Liverpool, with the midfielder playing over an hour in the 4-4 draw.
Already knowing before the game that they were missing out on Champions League football, Liverpool finished four points behind the top four.
Klopp hopes the arrival of Mac Allister and Szoboszlai can put the Reds back at the top of the table. Szoboszlai arrived for around £60m after helping Leipzig secure Champions League football last season and also impressed for Red Bull Salzburg against Liverpool in 2019 as a teenager.
“I’m pretty sure he was just a teenager then and has come a long way since then – he moved to Leipzig, did very well in the Bundesliga, played for the Hungarian national team and later became captain of his national team at an incredibly young age,” Klopp said.
“These are real positives and that’s before we even think about his qualities as a footballer. I won’t say too much about that at this stage, other than that he’s definitely the guy who will hopefully bring a lot of enjoyment and help us too get results.
“There is no pressure though. Dominik is still a very young player. He has so much development ahead of him and that means it makes sense for all of us to be patient and give him the time and space for his talent to emerge within our team.”
