Liverpool are making Romeo Lavia a top transfer target in midfield now, with the Reds ending their interest in Khephren Thuram due to the arrival of Dominik Szoboszlai.
That’s according to Neil Jones in his exclusive CaughtOffside column, who says that Liverpool ultimately ended up choosing Szoboszlai over Thuram for that number 8 role, with Lavia now being lined up to play as a more defensive number 6 role in Jurgen Klopp’s midfield.
However, Jones also says he’s aware that Arsenal plan to go quite strongly for Lavia once they finalise things with Declan Rice this week, so there could be a big battle on for the Southampton midfielder.
Lavia shone in the Premier League last season, but he remains inexperienced at the highest level and Jones is unconvinced Liverpool will pay the Saints’ £50million asking price for a player with only 36 club games under his belt in his entire career so far.
“My understanding is that Khephren Thuram had been a priority, but that’s changed now, with the Szoboszlai signing having a big impact – while they’re different players, my understanding is that Thuram would’ve been brought in to play a similar kind of position to the Hungarian, so that’s why Romeo Lavia is now the priority,” Jones explained.
“Unlike those two, the Southampton youngster is more of a genuine number 6 than a number 8, so it seems clear that Liverpool have gone for Szoboszlai over Thuram, even if the latter was someone they looked at for a long period and held talks with his representatives. There wasn’t ever any agreement with Nice, so it may be that the overall package with Szoboszlai, whether that’s things like wages or even just the fact that he offers something in a few different positions, made the difference in the end.
“In terms of Lavia, I can confirm that there is definitely strong interest there, as has been well documented. It’s been a few months now that he’s been on Liverpool’s list, but a big question will be with the fee Southampton ask for – some reports are suggesting it could be around £50m, and I think Liverpool will feel that’s a bit high for a player who’s 19 years of age and played only 36 games in his professional club career.
“Obviously there are other clubs interested as well, and Arsenal, as I understand it, plan to go quite strongly for Lavia once they get Declan Rice over the line this week.
“It’s a tricky deal for Liverpool, but there’s no doubt they want him, so it’ll just come down to whether or not the right financial deal can be agreed with Southampton, and what other clubs want to do.
“Again, it could end up being a huge overhaul in that midfield if it’s three new players we end up seeing come in, and all young players for big money. It would be a gamble in a way, especially Lavia, because we’ve only seen one year of him in Premier League football, but that’s the position Liverpool are in now – they allowed that area to go a bit sterile, and so it’s no surprise that they’re now having to make big purchases to try to fix the mistakes they made in previous summers.”
Could this be advantage Arsenal? It’s not that clear yet, but Lavia may well also be well advised to choose the Emirates Stadium over Anfield this summer as he’d get the chance to play in the Champions League next season.
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