Liverpool attempt to ‘limit leaks’ as Romano reveals two Lavia alternatives; addresses Leeds link | OneFootball

Jurgen Klopp is struggling to keep his transfer business under wraps.

Liverpool will attempt to “limit leaks” in the coming days after their public pursuits of Moises Caicedo and Romeo Lavia, according to Fabrizio Romano.

The Reds have lost out on both midfielders to Chelsea with Brighton’s Caicedo confirmed as a new Blues player on Monday in a deal worth up to £115m.

but interest from Chelsea has also reportedly turned his head.

It’s a big change from the way Liverpool have conducted business in the past with the Merseysiders having a reputation for keeping deals under the radar.

And transfer expert Romano has explained why Liverpool missed out on Caicedo and Lavia, while he has named two targets still on Jurgen Klopp’s shortlist this summer.

Romano wrote on his Caught Offside column: “Moises Caicedo is a new Chelsea player after an incredible saga and a long summer of Chelsea and Brighton negotiating, but now there’s also an important update on Romeo Lavia.

“Lavia has communicated in a very clear way to all parties involved – Chelsea, his agents, Southampton – that he wants to join Chelsea. The decision has been made, and so Chelsea and Southampton have been in contact during the night. The Blues want to make the deal happen this week, and today will be an important day.

“Despite two new arrivals in midfield, I see Carney Chukwuemeka staying at the club as Mauricio Pochettino is very happy with him. For Conor Gallagher, a move could be possible but it depends on the proposals they get.

“But what happened with Liverpool? Liverpool spent two weeks negotiating with Southampton, they had the green light of the player, but for Lavia it was only a possibility, it’s not like he was saying he only wanted Liverpool.

“Then when Chelsea entered the race they had a crucial figure in Joe Shields – he is one of the directors at Chelsea, and he almost created Lavia as a player because he was a director at Manchester City’s academy, and then a director at Southampton when he signed Lavia for them. Now Shields is at Chelsea and he is signing Lavia again, making a huge difference in this story.

“Chelsea look set to close this deal for around £50m plus add-ons. They are discussing the structure of the add-ons and then the deal will be done. Liverpool did not have a deal done with Southampton, because they knew the player preferred Chelsea.

“Liverpool will now move on to different targets. They keep following both Khephren Thuram and Manu Kone as they did earlier in the summer, but let’s see who they will ‘attack’ now. Of course they will try to limit leaks as it created an issue with the Caicedo deal and same with Lavia.

“It’s an open race for Liverpool in midfield, but for sure they will sign at least one new player in that position. It’s worth saying that, as of tonight, I’m not aware of Liverpool bids for Tyler Adams – there is a clause, so it can be activated any moment. Bournemouth have activated the clause, they feel the player is keen on moving there, and so I see them as favourites to sign the Leeds midfielder.”