Liverpool, Arsenal & Chelsea shaping up for transfer battle over Southampton star

Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea have all held talks over a possible deal for in-demand Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia in recent weeks, 90min understands.

90min understands that, as it stands, Southampton firmly believe their valuation in excess of £50m is fair price. More importantly, they also think it is an attainable number given the interest that is emerging in the teenage Belgian international.

Leading suitors Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea all have Lavia on their respective lists.

Liverpool have already made in-roads into their midfield overhaul with the signings of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, but they want more. They have looked closely at the likes of Nice's Khephren Thuram, Borussia Monchengladbach's Manu Kone and Ryan Gravenberch of Bayern Munich - but Lavia with his existing Premier League experience is now under consideration.

Arsenal are set to announce the signing of Declan Rice, but with Granit Xhaka set to leave and the futures of Thomas Partey and Jorginho far from certain, they have plans to further bolster their midfield. Those plans include Lavia and 90min revealed last month they have already held talks.

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Chelsea are going for Moises Caicedo and are preparing to make an opening offer, as 90min has revealed. But they are still looking at other options as their midfield is in need of a boost in numbers following the departures of Mason Mount, Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and N'Golo Kante. Chelsea also have Joe Shields, co-Director of Recruitment and Talent, who was the man who took Lavia to Southampton from Manchester City last summer, prior to taking a job at Stamford Bridge, and he is pushing hard for his new club to make an approach.

Aside from Arsenal, Liverpool and Chelsea, there is further interest in Lavia. 90min understands that his former club Manchester City - who have a buy-back in 2024 - are being kept aware of the situation, along with Manchester United and Newcastle, who could very well open talks too.

However, all the clubs interested are believed to be unsure of Southampton's current £50m+ valuation of the player - the Saints only paid £10m plus another £4m in add-ons for Lavia. As it stands it is not believed any club is willing to reach that mark.

90min understands that Lavia and his team have so far not indicated any preference as to where he wants to move, but they are very happy with the extent and calibre of the clubs interested. Lavia wants his future resolving before the start of the season as he isn't keen to play in the Championship.

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On this week's edition of Talking Transfers, part of the 90min podcast network, Scott Saunders is joined by Toby Cudworth, Graeme Bailey and Sean Walsh to discuss Man Utd's priorities after agreeing a deal for Mason Mount, the latest on Arsenal's move for Declan Rice, Tottenham's targets and more!

If you can't see this embed, click here to listen to the podcast!