Rumour Mongering: Liverpool Agree Personal Terms with Roméo Lavia

Before news broke a week into pre-season that veteran midfielders Fabinho Tavares and Jordan Henderson had both had their heads turned by interest from Saudi Arabia, Liverpool had been looking at defensive midfielder Roméo Lavia as a long-term signing.

For the right price, the Southampton 19-year-old would have been brought in to back up Fabinho and continue his development. With Fabinho on his way out, though, those plans seemed rather up in the air as the Reds were forced to consider their options.

Now, though, it appears they have chosen to push ahead on the Lavia front, with reports today that personal terms have been agreed with the player and that the club are entering into serious negotiations with Southampton in an effort to hammer out a fee.

For the player’s part, Lavia is said to have been growing impatient that the deal appeared to be stuck in a holding pattern, but with a firm offer on the table he is now eager to see a deal done and to become Jürgen Klopp’s third midfield signing of the summer.

Liverpool are expected to push to complete the signing of the young Belgian for £35M while Southampton’s valuation remains in the £50M neighbourhood, with a £40M Manchester City buyback clause for next summer potentially complicating matters.