An update has emerged on Liverpool and their pursuit of a third addition in central midfield ahead of the 2023/24 Premier League campaign…
What's the latest Liverpool transfer news?
According to Football Insider, the Reds are closing in on a deal to sign Belgium international Romeo Lavia from Southampton before the end of the summer transfer window.
The report claims that the club are hopeful of reaching an agreement with the Saints by the end of this month, which would allow the former Manchester City prospect to link up with the squad before the new season kicks off.
It states that the two sides are currently locked in talks to discuss terms as the Championship outfit are demanding a fee of £50m and Jurgen Klopp's team are not willing to go much higher than £40m.
However, the Merseyside giants seemingly remain hopeful that a compromise can be reached as they attempt to add to their already-completed moves for Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister.
How good is Romeo Lavia?
The 19-year-old battler enjoyed a strong debut Premier League season with Southampton, and his performances over the last 12 months suggest that the potential is there for him to be a fantastic player for Liverpool in the future.
His displays for the Saints also indicate that he could be a strong presence for Klopp in midfield, which could spell bad news for Stefan Bajcetic as the young Spaniard's game time may be affected by Lavia's arrival.
During the 2022/23 campaign, the 18-year-old Reds talent averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.62 across 11 top-flight matches for the club, which placed him 24th within the squad.
The teenager struggled to produce consistently impressive performances, as you would expect with a player of his age, as he completed 79% of his attempted passes and only created 0.4 chances per match, as per Sofascore.
He also failed to make a significant impact on the defensive end. Bajcetic averaged 1.6 tackles and interceptions combined per match and lost 55% of his duels, which shows that the opposition were able to get the better of him more often than not.
Lavia, on the other hand, averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.80 over 29 Premier League outings for the Saints and caught the eye defensively with 3.2 tackles and interceptions per match and a duel success rate of 56%.
Out of Liverpool's central midfielders, only Thiago Alcantara (3.6) made more interventions per clash than the Belgian tank, who made more than the likes of Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, and Curtis Jones.
This shows that the impressive teenager, who was once described as a "monster" by journalist Benjy Nurick, has the quality and strength to consistently win possession back for his side in the middle of the park.
He was also more reliable on the ball than Bajcetic as the Southampton star completed 86% of his attempted passes whilst the talented gem also created 0.6 chances per game.
Therefore, the signing of Lavia would be bad news for the Spanish prodigy as their respective form from last season suggests that the former Citizens starlet would offer more to Klopp in the short term, which could place him above the current Liverpool battler within the pecking order.