Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool will have to do more than the £46m bid they have sent to Southampton if they are to sign a Belgian midfielder from the Saint Mary’s stadium after the championship side rejected the Red’s third bid on Monday.

According to reports, the Saints want nothing less than £50m for the 19-year-old they signed from Manchester City in 2022. The side who finished the last Premier League season at the bottom of the table started the new season in the Championship with a 2-1 win over Sheffield Wednesday at the weekend.

However, they didn’t field the Belgian who they got from Manchester City last summer for £10.5m as Southampton’s manager Russell Martin said he and James Ward Prowse will continue to play for the club despite the reports linking them to an exit from the club.

“Pleased with his attitude, the easiest thing to do would be to not play tonight. Not easy for a young player to handle the noise, but he’s handled it well. The latest news is very public; he may still be here he may not. Both will be involved as it stands; I don’t know if anything will change between now and then. Do I think they will be Southampton players by the end of the window? I have not got a clue. What I hope and what I think is probably very different.” Russell Martin said.

Lavia played 34 times in all competitions for Southampton last season as they dropped to the Championship from the Premier League. He seems to be crucial to Jurgen Klopp’s rebuilding process at Anfield, especially in the midfield after Fabinho, Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Naby Keita, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain all left the club this summer.

Manager Jurgen Klopp has already signed World Cup-winning Argentina midfielder Alexis Mac Allister from Brighton in June and Dominik Szoboszlai from RB Leipzig in July.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu