Report: Liverpool have overtaken Arsenal as favourites to sign £14m player

It feels as though we’ve been talking about Romeo Lavia leaving Southampton for almost a year now.

The Belgian midfielder joined Southampton for £14m last summer, and almost as soon as he made that move, speculation about his future started.

A deadline day bid from Chelsea last summer was reportedly made, Lavia was spoken about a lot in January too, and this summer, the rumour mill has gone into overdrive.

Indeed, links to Liverpool and Chelsea are ongoing, but according to The Independent, the view within the game at the start of the summer was that Arsenal were the favourites to sign Lavia.

However, according to this report, Arsenal have now fallen behind in this race and Liverpool are now seen as the favourites to sign the youngster.

Lavia will seemingly be on the move this summer, and with the impending departure of Fabinho at Liverpool, there’s a huge space for him in the Reds’ squad opening up.

The fact that Arsenal and Chelsea have both been in for Lavia this summer is a testament to his ability, and the two London clubs may well regret not signing him if he does ultimately end up heading to Anfield.

Of course, there is a long way to go in this transfer tussle, and as Arsenal’s previous status as favourites to sign Lavia shows, things can change very quickly in this game.

One thing is for sure, between Declan Rice, Moises Caicedo and Lavia, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool should be heading into next season with much stronger midfields.

Can any of these sides wrestle the Premier League title out of Manchester City’s grip? Time will tell, but it will be intriguing to see how they all get on.