Fabrizio Romano says Liverpool are discussing making a signing he thinks could be ‘fantastic’

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Liverpool are still weighing up a move for Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia, but are yet to make a final decision.

Lavia has emerged as the Reds top target for the remainder of the summer window, having already brought in Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai. But with that pair now in training, a deal for the 19-year-old still looks some way off.

Reporting for CaughtOffside this morning, journalist Fabrizio Romano confirmed that nothing is ‘imminent’ between Lavia and Liverpool.

“At the moment this is still not something imminent,” says the transfer expert. “Liverpool are discussing internally about Lavia, no official bid has been submitted yet. And also no decision has been made on the price. “

It seems that if it were up to Romano though, it would be an easy decision to make. The journalist also put forward a potential alternative to the Belgian.

“So, Lavia remains on the Reds’ list, and, honestly, I think Lavia would be a fantastic signing,” he claimed. “He’s a top talent, it’s not easy to find that kind of player on the market, so I don’t know if they have alternatives at this stage.

“Personally a player I like in midfield is Manuel Locatelli but he’s an important player for Juventus, so not necessarily a realistic or easier option for Liverpool or anyone else.”

Liverpool stuck in Lavia stalemate

There seems to be a real game of poker going on where Lavia is concerned just at the moment.

Southampton are still seemingly adamant that they want their full £50m asking-price met. Liverpool – as well as Arsenal and Chelsea – insist that this is too much to pay.

All sides don’t look ready to blink for the time being, so things could drag on for some time yet.

The one pressing matter is that Lavia surely won’t want to head into the new season with Southampton in the Championship.

The 19-year-old is good enough to play regular Premier League football and the closer he gets to a season in the second division, perhaps the more agitated he will become.

Maybe that’s why Liverpool are waiting. They could be banking on Lavia getting impatient and pushing for the move. In that scenario you’d imagine Saints would have to climb down on their valuation.

From Southampton’s point of view, they may be waiting for one of Liverpool, Chelsea or Arsenal to play the first card. They’ll hope that this could lead to a bidding war between three of English football’s biggest clubs. What we do know is that it’s been a stalemate for some time. That doesn’t look like changing any time soon.