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Report: ‘Brilliant’ player could now be the reason Liverpool don’t sign Romeo Lavia

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Liverpool have been locked in negotiations about signing Romeo Lavia for quite some time now.

The Reds have reportedly agreed personal terms with the player, and bids have gone in, but with Southampton holding firm on their £50m valuation of the player, there’s still a chance the Reds back out of this deal.

Indeed, according to The Times, Liverpool aren’t 100% convinced about paying that much for Lavia due to one player in their squad.

Southampton v Bournemouth: Pre-Season Friendly
Photo by Matt Watson/Southampton FC via Getty Images

Apparently, Liverpool don’t want to pay £50m for Lavia because they already have Stefan Bajcetic.

The ‘brilliant’ Spaniard was absolutely fantastic last season when he stepped into the side after the World Cup, and while an injury brought a premature end to his campaign, hopes are still high for this young man.

Lavia would be coming in to compete with Bajcetic, but, as you can imagine, Liverpool don’t want to spend £50m on a player who may slip down to second in the pecking order if Bajcetic continues to improve.

Liverpool Players Return for Pre-Season
Photo by Andrew Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

This is a rather risky strategy it has to be said.

Bajcetic looks like the real deal so far, but to hang your midfield future on a player who has only made a handful of senior appearances in his career is a real roll of the dice.

Of course, the same could be said about Lavia, but he did play a lot more football than Bajcetic last season, and, at times, he looked the better player.

Liverpool do need to weigh up what they want to do next, are they going to put all of their eggs in the Bajcetic basket? Or are they going to spend big on Lavia in the knowledge that they have a player at the club who could overtake the Belgian in due course.

This is a real quandary for Liverpool, and it’s a situation Jurgen Klopp has to really think about.