Liverpool have ‘reactivated pursuit’ of midfield target who could cost a fraction of Lavia’s transfer fee

Time is not on Liverpool’s side as they continue their search for a new defensive midfielder. There is just a matter of weeks left of the summer transfer window and Jurgen Klopp has lost the bulk of his midfield, despite the early signings of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai.

Key target Roméo Lavia is edging closer to a move to Chelsea following a last-minute twist in this transfer tale. The blow for Liverpool comes just days after they attmepted to hijack the Blues’ pursuit of Moisés Caicedo from Brighton. The Reds tabled a whopping £111 million for the midfielder but he made it clear that Stamford Bridge was the only destination on his mind.

Now, it’s very much back to the drawing board for Klopp, and with the Premier League season already underway, the pressure is turning up. In a desperate attempt to get at least one new name through the door, the Reds have been revisiting old links from earlier in the window, including Manchester City outcast Kalvin Phillips.

The latest name to re-emerge is Ryan Gravenberch from Bayern Munich, who was linked with an Anfield move for quite a while before talks faded. According to Foot Mercato journalist Santi Aouna, Liverpool have ‘reactivated their pursuit’ of the 21-year-old, who joined the Bundesliga giants just last summer.

However, he has been looking to move on due to limited game time and talks between him and the Reds are said to be ‘ongoing.’ Manchester United are also keen on signing Gravenberch, but not official offer has been made yet.

Reports earlier in the window claimd that the Dutchman would cost around €25 million (£22m), which is a great deal less than the record fee Liverpool were offering for Caicedo and indeed, the £50 million asking price Southampton have slapped on Lavia.