Southampton 'holding firm on £50m Romeo Lavia asking price'

The 19-year-old joined the Saints last summer from Manchester City for a fee rising to £14m and he impressed in his first full season as a Premier League player, starting 26 games in total.

However, Lavia has been heavily linked with a swift exit from St Mary's following the club's relegation to the Championship, with a host of top-flight clubs said to be closely monitoring his situation.

Man City are understood to possess a £40m buy-back clause for Lavia, but that can only be activated in 2024, and Pep Guardiola's side appear to be towards the back of the queue for the midfielder's signature as things stand.

Arsenal and Liverpool are currently to two clubs who are showing the most interest in Lavia, while Chelsea and Manchester United have also been credited with an interest.

However, both Arsenal and Liverpool could emerged as the frontrunners for Lavia's signature, with Man United having now completed the signing of Mason Mount, while Chelsea are pursuing a big-money swoop for Brighton & Hove Albion's Moises Caicedo.

A recent report claims that the Gunners have reached a verbal agreement with Lavia and are believed to be leading the race for his signature.

However, it is understood that Liverpool are ready to rival Arsenal and are preparing to make an opening bid for the Belgium international, who still has four years left on his contract.

According to Sky Sports News, Southampton believe they can receive close to their £50m valuation of Lavia due to the scale of top Premier League interest in his services.

However, the report adds that there is hesitancy from potential suitors over the Saints' asking price, with both Arsenal and Liverpool unwilling to table a big-money offer having already splashed the cash on other signings this summer.

Mikel Arteta's side are on the verge of completing a club-record £105m deal to sign West Ham United midfielder Declan Rice, who is due to undergo his medical this week, as is Ajax defender Jurrien Timber ahead of finalising a £38.6m transfer to the Emirates Stadium.

Arsenal's spending could therefore rise to almost £210m having already completed the signing of Kai Havertz from Chelsea for £65m, although they have generated £21.5m from the sale of Granit Xhaka to Bayer Leverkusen, while Thomas Partey could also depart amid interest from Juventus and Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, Jurgen Klopp is undergoing a midfield rebuild at Liverpool this summer and the Reds have already brought in Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis Mac Allister for a combined fee close to £100m.

Lavia is not the only Saints midfielder who could be heading for the exit door this summer, as club captain James Ward-Prowse is facing an uncertain future at St Mary's, with Liverpool among a number of clubs including Fulham and West Ham who allegedly hold an interest in the 28-year-old.