Romeo Lavia of Southampton has been contacted by Liverpool, according to Fabrizio Romano, about a possible transfer.
Since joining Southampton last summer after leaving Manchester City, the 19-year-old midfielder has made an impression. Last season, he played for the Saints in 34 games across all competitions and scored once, however he was unable to stop their relegation from the Premier League.
However, a number of major English teams have taken notice of his strong individual achievements.
In contrast to Chelsea, who reportedly had a £50 million deal for the midfielder rejected last summer, Arsenal has a serious interest in the Belgian international. City, on the other hand, has a £40 million buy-back clause in their contract with Southampton, although it won’t go into effect until the summer of 2024.
Transfer expert Romano claims Liverpool have now made contact with the Saints over a deal for Lavia, with their bitter rivals Manchester United also interested.
Understand Liverpool asked conditions of Romeo Lavia deal, they’re in the race,” tweeted Romano. “Arsenal, working on this deal for 15 days – no official bid from both clubs yet. Man Utd and Chelsea, monitoring the situation but not in active talks yet.”
City are set to profit financially if Lavia signs for another club this summer.
That’s because the Manchester club inserted a sell-on clause into their deal with Southampton, in addition to the buy-back clause that becomes active in 2024.
According to Simon Bajkowski of the Manchester Evening News, the clause represents a total of 20 per cent of any sale. With Southampton said to value the midfielder at £50m, City would therefore receive £10m if any sale is completed for that figure.
Meanwhile, talkSPORT journalist Alex Crook says Lavia will ‘push’ for a move if a major club makes a bid for him this summer.
