Liverpool have had a third offer for Romeo Lavia worth £45m rejected by Southampton, sources have confirmed to 90min.
The 19-year-old has been attracting the interest of Chelsea and Arsenal for the best part of a year, but Liverpool have shot to the front of the queue of interested parties after allowing central midfield duo Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to head to the riches of Saudi Arabia.
The Reds saw an opening offer of £35m immediately rejected by recently-relegated Southampton, before an improved bid for Lavia worth £42m was also rebuffed.
Southampton have maintained throughout negotiations that they want at least £50m for Lavia, and 90min understands they have held their ground after receiving a third Liverpool offer, worth £45m in total.
Liverpool remain keen to tie up a deal for Lavia and crucially have not walked away from negotiations - indicating that they may be willing to raise their offer once more in order to get a deal over the line.
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Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai have already arrived at Anfield this summer, from Brighton and RB Leipzig respectively, but there's an appetite for Liverpool to conclude further business in a bid to get back into the Premier League title mix.
Jurgen Klopp has seen not only Henderson and Fabinho depart, but also Naby Keita, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner from the midfield ranks - Lavia's potential arrival an indication of a changing of the guard on Merseyside.
Fluminense's Andre Trindade is regarded as a viable alternative to Lavia, should Liverpool not be able to iron things out with Southampton, while the club may also look to sign a centre-back before the summer window slams shut.
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This article was originally published on 90min as Southampton reject Liverpool's third bid for Romeo Lavia.