Liverpool have been strongly linked with a move for Romeo Lavia this summer and now a new update has emerged on the club's pursuit of the midfielder ahead of next season.
How much will Romeo Lavia cost?
According to Sky Sports Germany journalist Florian Plettenberg, Liverpool are in "concrete" talks to sign the Southampton midfielder.
Plettenberg took to Twitter to reveal: "Talks between Liverpool & Lavia are concrete and ongoing. Understand there is no agreement in terms of salary conditions yet.
"As reported: His price tag is around £50m Klopp wants him! Very press-resistant player – even in high-pressure situations, he loses the ball only once out of 10 times."
It was reported earlier this week that Liverpool were prepared to wait to sign Lavia in a bid to convince Southampton to lower their expensive £50m asking price for their player, however, it is looking like the recently relegated club are not willing to budge on their valuation.
As a result, FSG must sanction the move and put their trust in Jurgen Klopp to develop Lavia into another superstar that can bring more success to the Merseyside giants in the future, just like the German coach has done many times before.
How good is Romeo Lavia?
The Reds have already secured deals for two explosive attacking midfielders, with Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai both joining the squad at Anfield, however, bolstering the deeper roles in the midfield set-up would be advantageous.
There has been mounting speculation that Thiago Alcantara could be making an exit this summer; the Liverpool star is now in the last year of his contract and interest could present an opportunity to cash in, paving the way for Lavia to replace him.
When comparing the positional peers' outputs over last season, the Saints talent came close to Thiago in several key attributes including pass completion rate (86.2% v 86.2%), progressive passes (102 v 120), blocked passes (22 v 22), shot-creating actions (41 v 41) and aerial duels won (41.2% v 36.8%), as per FBref.
The Manchester City academy graduate has already started to earn high praise for his influence at St Mary's, with former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes lavishing Lavia with compliments on his deep-lying playmaking skills:
"He has got a pass in his locker and he is big and strong and likes to defend. He does not want to get forward too much and sits in front of the back four and sets the play in motion from there."
Whilst Rio Ferdinand also had a positive opinion on the player:
"He is a young player who can do both sides of the game, equally good defensively but also once he is one the ball he has tremendous feet and can pass it."
Fabinho and Stefan Bajcetic have returned to pre-season training and are expected to stay at the club for next season, so should Thiago depart in the coming weeks it would make more sense for the Belgian midfielder to replace him whilst Bajcetic continues to compete to be the successor to his Brazilian teammate.
With that being said, the signing of Lavia would be a big addition for Liverpool in their pursuit build a midfield for the future and if Lavia can continue his development he could be an incredibly valuable Thiago replacement.
