Chelsea are looking to trump Liverpool to one of their top targets after they made a £48million bid including add-ons for Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia.
The Championship side have been holding out for £50m and rejected a £46m offer from Liverpool – their third bid – on Monday.
Southampton, who have agreed to sell James Ward-Prowse to West Ham for £30m, also anticipate interest from Manchester United.
A foreign side has also made tentative enquiries for the 19-year-old Belgian.
Southampton are confident in their valuation as they believe Manchester City are willing to trigger their buy-back clause of £45m which becomes active next summer.
Chelsea have bid for Romeo Lavia as they aim to beat Liverpool in race for his signature
The Championship side have been holding out for £50m for the 19-year-old midfielder
Saints star Lavia (left) is being actively pursued by Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp (right)
Chelsea need midfield re-inforcements and have been negotiating with Brighton for £105m-rated Moises Caicedo and are expected to offer £20m for Leeds United’s Tyler Adams.
But this Lavia offer will be a test of Liverpool’s resolve too.
The Anfield club have been deliberating whether to improve their offer or switch sights to Fluminense midfielder Andre.
Lavia was left out of Southampton ‘s matchday squad for Tuesday’s EFL Cup match against League Two side Gillingham – and was also an unused substitute for Southampton as Russell Martin’s side kicked off the new Championship season with an away win over Sheffield Wednesday .
He will be allowed to depart the club this summer if a buyer reaches the South Coast side’s £50m valuation, a fee that Liverpool have so far been unable to match .
Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher labelled his former club as ’embarrassing’ for their so far failed pursuit of Lavia and called for them to either complete a deal or walk away rather than continue to negotiate a lower price.
‘This is embarrassing,’ the Sky Sports pundit wrote on Twitter, before later turning on colleague Gary Neville. ‘If you don’t think he’s worth £50m move on. If you really want him, pay it.
‘Also not sure why LFC aren’t in for Caicedo, yes it’s a lot of money but Liverpool got big money for JH [Jordan Henderson] and FAB [Fabinho].’
It didn’t take long for Neville to respond to Carragher’s complaints, as he wrote back: ‘Do you now agree that Klopp has shielded your owners for the last 5-6 years?’
Jamie Carragher blasted Liverpool on Twitter amid their ongoing attempts to sign Lavia
Carragher (right) then hit back at Gary Neville (left) after his fellow pundit claimed Klopp had been shielding Liverpool’s owners in recent years
It comes as Jordan Henderson (pictured) and Fabinho both departed the club to Saudi Arabia
Carragher bit back instantly, replying: ‘Gary you haven’t a clue what’s going on at Liverpool! The owners have a self sustaining model that Klopp bought into & produced miracles!
‘Part of that was a transfer department that was the envy of Europe. That has now gone with Klopp running the club from top to bottom. LFC have had three DOF’s in 18 months, the current one who came out of retirement to do the job for this summer, he’s a close contact of the manager.
‘Liverpool’s wage bill is 150M more than Arsenals a season. Just do the Maths. Liverpool don’t have an investor (Peter Lim) like you do at Salford, where you & lads just get on a plane at the end of the season to beg him to spend more money!!’
The Merseyside outfit are looking to strengthen their midfield stocks following the departures of Jordan Henderson and Fabinho, who have recently both signed for clubs in Saudi Arabia.
Alexis Mac Allister has arrived, as has Dominik Szoboszlai in a £60m deal from RB Leipzig, but the Reds are in need of more reinforcements in midfield having totally overhauled that area this summer.
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