Man Utd gatecrash Liverpool move for top target as Klopp dallying offers Ten Hag golden chance
Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia
The failure of Liverpool to meet the asking price for Romeo Lavia is set to open the door for Manchester United to pinch his signing, according to a report.
The Merseysiders are desperate to bring in new midfielders this summer having seen that area massively weakened this summer. Indeed, despite spending a combined £95m to sign Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, the Reds find themselves four bodies lighter in the engine room as things stand.
And while the exits of James Milner, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita and Arthur Melo were planned and expected, Liverpool did not expect to lose both Fabinho and Jordan Henderson when the summer window opened for business.
Yet with just 10 days to go before the start of the new season, Jurgen Klopp has found adding a third midfield signing to his mix harder than expected.
They have so far seen two bids for Southampton star Lavia fail to meet Southampton’s expectations. A first bid, worth £37m, was swiftly batted away.
A series of talks followed, with Klopp and Co then offering Saints a package worth £43m. At that stage there was a belief that the offer would be enough to tempt Saints to sell their teenage prodigy.
However, Southampton’s director of football Jason Wilcox has shown his tenacity in the market and is refusing to buckle over Lavia’s fee. And with his asking price seemingly not shifting from £50m, Liverpool still find themselves £7m short.
The problem for Liverpool is that the club feel circa £40m represents the top end value for a player of Lavia’s experience. While he showed unreal promise during his first full season as a regular, he still only has 29 Premier League appearances to his name.
Man Utd ready to pounce for Liverpool target Romeo Lavia
As a result and out of principle, Klopp and Co are unlikely to raise that offer for the once-capped Belgium international. As such, any hopes of bringing the 19-year-old to Anfield now appear to have hit the rocks.
Thankfully for Klopp, he does have other targets in mind. To that end, a deal for highly-rated Fluminense star Andre is racing towards completion thanks to the intervention of super-agent Jorge Mendes.
Klopp is also reportedly considering revisiting a possible deal for Bayern Munich star Ryan Gravenberch, while Man City’s Kalvin Phillips is also remerging as a possible target after his season of benchwarming at the Etihad.
As for Lavia, it seems Liverpool’s decision not to raise their offer has presented Erik ten Hag and Manchester United with a golden chance to pinch the deal.
According to the Independent’s Miguel Delaney, Ten Hag and Co are now seriously considering gazumping their rivals for the midfielder.
Ten Hag is adamant he wants to sign another midfielder before the window shuts. They have held initial talks, and agreed personal terms, with Fiorentina’s Sofyan Amrabat – another Liverpool target – but are yet to trigger his €35m (£30m) asking price with player sales needed first.
To that end, United hope to move the likes of Fred, Donny van de Beek and potentially Scott McTominay along before making their move.
But if United were to raise more than expected over the sales, it’s reported they will instead switch targets for Lavia.
Southampton’s happiness to delay his sale until their £50m fee is met presents Ten Hag with a unique opportunity to swoop in for his signing.
By contrast, Klopp and Co were hoping theirs would be the top bid and leave Southampton with no choice but to return to the negotiating table.
However, the possible move now by Ten Hag and Co presents a real and present danger to the Merseysiders’ hopes.
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