Liverpool have had a third bid of around £46million rejected by Southampton for Romeo Lavia.
Jurgen Klopp has identified the Belgium international as the perfect replacement for holding midfielder Fabinho, who recently left to join Saudi Arabian outfit Al Ittihad.
However, talks with Southampton have dragged on with the Championship club sticking rigidly to their valuation of £50million.
Liverpool believe that figure is inflated for a 19-year-old who only has one season of senior football under his belt.
Anfield officials must now decide whether to increase their offer once again or move on to other targets.
Lavia, who is keen to complete the move to Liverpool, was an unused substitute in Southampton’s Championship opener against Sheffield Wednesday on Friday night.
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Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai have already arrived at Anfield from Brighton & Hove Albion and RB Leipzig respectively.
Jordan Henderson has departed for Al Ettifaq while Fabinho has also joined the former club captain in the Saudi Pro League at Al Ittihad.
James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all left at the end of their contracts while Fabio Carvalho has moved on loan to RB Leipzig.
Lavia was the subject of a £50m approach from Chelsea last summer before going on to be a standout player in an otherwise disappointing season for Southampton.
GO DEEPER
Romeo Lavia is Southampton’s utopia – a youthful buy to sell for big profit. He has excelled
How could Lavia replace Fabinho?
Andy Jones and Thom Harris have used data to look at various options for a Fabinho replacement at Liverpool. You canread the full article here, including analysis of Florentino Luis, Kalvin Phillips and Sofyan Amrabat. Here is part of their look at Lavia…
“Blessed with press-resistant qualities, an exceptional passing range and the ability to carry the ball, Lavia has the confidence and composure to control the tempo of games despite not turning 20 until next year.
“Lavia’s youth gives him huge room to develop and grow, and Klopp is exceptional at moulding players into roles which fit his system.
“He is not afraid to get stuck in and covers a lot of ground in similar areas of the pitch to Fabinho.”
GO DEEPER
Liverpool’s No 6 hunt: Lavia, Amrabat, Phillips, Luis and more analysed
(Photo: Michael Steele via Getty Images)
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