Breaking: Roméo Lavia in, $58m deal sealed – Realistic end to Liverpool transfer window

Breaking: Roméo Lavia in, $58m deal sealed – Realistic end to Liverpool transfer window

Liverpool can complete an ideal summer transfer window with a move for Roméo Lavia and a swoop for another teenager Jamie Carragher dubbed a future ‘superstar’.

The Premier League transfer window opened around a month ago now, and Liverpool can be pleased with its efforts so far.

The Reds have refreshed their malfunctioning midfield with two signings, first bringing Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton for a fee of around $44m (£35m/€41m) before snapping up RB Leipzig’s Dominik Szoboszlai for $77m (£60m/€70m).

Those two players were both in the door, helpfully, for the first week of pre-season, but you get the sense that Liverpool’s squad is still incomplete as it prepares to head to Germany for a training camp at the weekend.

The pressure isn’t mounting just yet, with a month still to go before the Reds kick off their Premier League campaign against Chelsea and the window running for another three weeks or so after that, but there remain a couple of issues that need to be fixed.

The first is the defensive midfield situation. Liverpool has brought in two number eights capable of slotting straight into the starting line-up but could do with stronger cover for Fabinho, who struggled mightily for a large part of last season. It feels like too big a gamble to rely on the Brazilian to return to his former heights without a sufficiently strong replacement at the ready.

And the second concerns the center-back department. The Reds look well-stocked on paper with Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konaté, Joël Matip, Joe Gomez and Nat Phillips all available, but Phillips is set to leave if Liverpool’s $13m (£10m/€12m) demands are met (via The Athletic), while three of the players listed struggled last season, with the exception of Konaté.

Even the Frenchman, though, is susceptible to injury problems, as are Matip and Gomez. Liverpool needs another body to reinforce that area of the team.

Liverpool transfer target Roméo Lavia can compete with Fabinho
According to The Times’ Paul Joyce, Klopp has been ‘checking on’ Southampton midfielder Roméo Lavia with a view to a possible move this summer.

For a deal to be done, Liverpool will have to negotiate the Saints down on price, because it regards the present $64m (£50m/€58m) demands as far too high, as per The Athletic.

The hope will be that a compromise can be reached at just above the $52m (£40m/€47m) fee Southampton would receive if Manchester City activated its buy-back clause next summer (Fabrizio Romano via Goal).

The relegated club is poised to recruit a ready-made replacement from City in Shea Charles (via Daily Mail), which may make it more amenable to a sale.

He could be both an immediate competitor and long-term successor to Fabinho in that number six position.

Liverpool should seek António Silva transfer to strengthen defense
In March, journalist Neil Jones shared a list of defenders admired by Liverpool’s recruitment team (via Goal) and, one by one, the names have fallen by the wayside.

Wolfsburg’s Micky van de Ven is headed to Spurs without resistance from the Reds, while a move for Sporting’s Gonçalo Inácio has been ruled out (via This is Anfield).

Chelsea’s Levi Colwill is of interest (as per the ECHO) but suffers from the Reds being direct competitors, while Mauricio Pochettino’s side is determined to keep him. Similarly, Jarrad Branthwaite is off the table because he plays for local rival Everton.

Joško Gvardiol’s $112m (£86m/€100m) price tag always put that deal bey