Jamie Carragher’s ominous Liverpool transfer explosion rings true in Romeo Lavia disaster
Liverpool have lost to Chelsea in the race for Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia just days after Anfield favorite Jamie Carragher breached the club’s transfer strategy
Liverpool appear to be losing out on a deal for Romeo Lavia after the Southampton starlet was baffled by the Reds’ tactics in their attempts to sign him.
Jurgen Klopp may have already signed Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai this summer, but the German is still looking for reinforcements in midfield after losing both Fabinho and Jordan Henderson to the Saudi Pro League. It appeared Lavia was the Reds’ preferred target to complement their new midfield before they decided to change tactics and make a £111million offer for Moises Caicedo. Liverpool returned to negotiating talks for Lavia after Caicedo rejected them in favor of a move to Chelsea, but the damage had already been done.
According to The Guardian, Lavia and his camp have been “bewildered” by Liverpool’s tactics, effectively making the talented teenager feel like a second-choice target. Although Liverpool have now agreed a transfer fee of over £50m for Lavia’s services, the midfielder is expected to follow Caicedo to Chelsea. This essentially means Liverpool are back to the drawing board with just over two weeks left in the transfer window – meaning Klopp is running out of time in his bid to sign a defensive midfielder.
The club’s transfer strategy was brutally torn apart by Anfield favorite Jamie Carragher on Monday night following Lavia’s latest offer.
Liverpool entered the summer knowing they needed to rebuild their engine room after a disappointing season and Carragher is unfazed the Reds have started the new season with work to do in the market.
“They have just made an offer of £60m as they refused to pay £50m a few days ago,” Carragher said on Sky Sports. “It’s an absolute mess, it’s a joke. The fact that things aren’t in order isn’t the owners fault either. It’s the structure of the club, what do Liverpool do? They don’t spend not the same money as other teams and within 18 months Liverpool had four directors of football.
“You haven’t made any deals – that’s your job in this role.” The two players who bought had buyout clauses, there is no negotiation! They can’t get deals across the board, they don’t pay certain amounts. It’s an absolute mess, it’s a joke.”
Carragher’s Monday Night Football co-host Gary Neville also chimed in, claiming the Reds made a mistake in allowing Fabinho and Henderson to leave the club.
Neville added: “I think it was also a mistake to let go of Henderson, Milner and Fabinho before buying their replacements. I don’t know how that happened.”
“I’ve always thought Liverpool were smart to let players in before they expose themselves. They have a big problem now, they’re going to panic in the transfer window and Liverpool won’t under Jurgen Klopp.”
