Jurgen Klopp's midfield rebuild at Liverpool this summer is set to continue with a push for Romeo Lavia.
The Liverpool boss has already made two additions as he looks to prepare his squad for an upcoming Europa League campaign. Alexis Mac Allister has joined from Brighton, while Dominik Szoboszlai is the Reds' new number eight after completing his move from RB Leipzig.
After losing several midfielders, though, more bodies are needed. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Naby Keita, James Milner and Arthur Melo have all been shorn from last season's squad, and Southampton star Lavia could help Klopp strengthen in a key area.
According to talkSPORT, Liverpool are preparing an opening bid for the 19-year-old. Southampton are said to value Lavia at £50m, with Klopp's team facing competition from Chelsea for the ex-Manchester City star.
City themselves inserted a 20% sell-on clause when letting the Belgian leave for Southampton last summer. They also have a buy-back clause which comes into force in 2024, but other clubs appear keen to move now and take that out of the equation.
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Lavia made 29 appearances for Southampton last season, holding down a place in their midfield under a succession of managers. He scored his first senior goal in August, in a 2-1 victory over Chelsea
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Romeo Lavia stood out in a tough season for Southampton (Getty Images)
Lavia's last Premier League game for Southampton came against Liverpool, with the midfielder playing more than an hour of the 4-4 draw.
Liverpool already knew before the game that they would miss out on Champions League football, and they finished four points outside the top four.
Klopp will hope moves for Mac Allister and Szoboszlai can lift the Reds back up the table. Szoboszlai has joined for around £60m, having helped Leipzig secure Champions League football last term, and also impressed against Liverpool as a teenager for Red Bull Salzburg in 2019.
"I'm pretty sure he was still a teenager at that time and since then he has made some big strides – moving to Leipzig, doing really, really well in the Bundesliga, playing for the Hungary national team and then becoming captain of his national team at an incredibly young age," Klopp said.
"These are proper positives and this is even before we even think about his qualities as a footballer. I will not say too much about them at this stage except they are definitely the kind which will hopefully bring a lot of enjoyment and also help us to get results.
"There is no pressure, though. Dominik is still a very young player. He has so much development ahead of him and this means it makes sense for us all to be patient and to give him the time and space to allow his talent to come through within our team."
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