Liverpool remain in discussion with Southampton over the transfer of Romeo Lavia after reportedly a third bid was rejected by the Saints.
The Reds are still looking to land their long-time target in Romeo Lavia. It has been reported that the player has no issues switching to the Red half of the Merseyside. He has reportedly agreed personal terms with the club.
However, Southampton are reluctant to let go of the player until his asking price is met by Liverpool. This also means that the third bid for the Belgian has been rejected by the Saints as it was reported to be £46m.
The South Coast club are holding a firm £50m asking fee for the player to leave the club. He has even been attracting interest from Chelsea and other Premier League clubs.
After walking out on the Thuram deal, the fans are hoping their club seals the deal for Lavia. This has made Carragher ‘embarrassed‘ as well after he expressed his disappointment on Twitter.
Moreover, as per SkySports, Liverpool will have to meet the Saints’ asking price of £50M if they want the deal to be sealed.
Liverpool needs to pay the asking price for Romeo Lavia
As per reports, the Merseyside giants lodged a third bid worth £45 million plus add-ons earlier this week. However, the Saints snubbed the proposal for the defensive midfielder, who was outstanding last season.
Liverpool are refusing to give up in their pursuit of Lavia, and it is understood that an improved offer was lodged a matter of hours after their latest setback.
Respected journalist Ben Jacobs recently told GIVEMESPORT that the Reds are increasingly optimistic about winning the race for Lavia.
It is also reported that the Belgian is interested in a move to Anfield. Hence, the personal terms are no issue for the Reds.
Uncertainty over the 19-year-old’s future led to him only being an unused substitute for Southampton’s opening-day win over Sheffield on Wednesday.
What do the reporters say?
Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth believes that Liverpool remain in talks with Southampton, despite failing with several bids. This shows that there is a deal to be done for Lavia.
The Sky Sports reporter feels the Saints are refusing to lower their valuation of the former Manchester City man. It’s because they are eager for the majority of fees to be paid upfront instead of in installments or add-ons.
“Talks are ongoing, so I think there’s a deal to be done there. The fact that Liverpool have made three bids would suggest that they desperately want to bring in the player.
The latest bid was around £45million all in, including add-ons. Even though that’s only £5million short of what Southampton are standing firm on, we haven’t really got all the information on how that deal would have been structured.
If Southampton are standing firm on £50million, they might actually have another caveat to say they want the majority of that £50million paid up front, followed by the performance-related add-ons. They would also want those performance-related add-ons to be achievable, but the fact that they’re still talking would imply that the deal is there to be done.”
Sheth told Givemesport
Even though there is hope for the transfer, the Reds are also looking elsewhere over a potential transfer.
The other targets like Andre and Gravenberch are also highly mentioned. And it is now to be seen how the saga unfolds.
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