Staff at Liverpool think signing Romeo Lavia would represent too much of a gamble at the moment.
The Reds have been linked with a move for Lavia during the summer window. But writing for CaughtOffside, journalist Neil Jones claimed that although they ‘admire’ the 19-year-old, he isn’t top of their list right now.
“Romeo Lavia’s also an interesting one,” Jones began. “As he’s probably the sort of player Liverpool would’ve signed if things had gone a little more to plan in the last twelve months.
“He’s a young player and if Liverpool were in a better position and trying to make small improvements from a position of strength, then I could see Lavia being high up on their agenda. Based on his age, his potential and his style of play.
“I just suspect now, with the way things have gone wrong for Liverpool in the last year or so, that they feel they need someone who’s a bit more of a guarantee. Someone with a bit more of a proven record of what they can do at the top level.
“Lavia is a top talent but I get the impression he’d possibly be seen as too much of a gamble at the moment. He’s a player they admire and they’re by no means alone in that – Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City, they’re all in there.
“But from a Liverpool perspective, whenever I’ve spoken to people around the club about Lavia, the impression I’m getting is that it’s maybe a bit too soon for Liverpool to put all their eggs in that basket.”
Lavia way down the list for Liverpool
This makes a great deal of sense from Jones. Had Liverpool already been secure in their first team midfield options, Lavia would have been a good addition to that.
But given that they need to make signings who will be starters pretty much immediately, the Southampton man shouldn’t be a priority. Especially not for the rumoured £50m price-tag.
Of course, some will argue that Lavia already has the talent to command a starting spot at Liverpool.
Certainly, looking at the options Jurgen Klopp has just at the moment, there’s an argument that he would. In fairness though, that speaks more to the paucity and quality of options at the manager’s disposal than it does of Lavia’s ability.
After all, this is a player who has just been part of an abysmal Southampton side. There’s no way Saints should have gone down based on the quality of their squad. But they did. Young he might be, but Lavia has to take a small part of the responsibility for that.
Whether his team’s relegation has played any part in Liverpool’s current stance, we don’t yet know.
As they ponder just who will follow Alexis Mac Allister to Anfield this summer though, it sounds like Lavia’s name is some way down the list.
