Southampton boss Russell Martin has admitted that certain players will depart St Mary's this summer following the club's relegation to the Championship, with Liverpool keen on midfielder Romeo Lavia.
The ECHO understands Lavia is on the radar after an impressive individual campaign in his first full season as a Premier League player. The Belgium international is just 19 but managed to feature 29 times and stood out in a Saints side that ultimately failed to survive.
However, we also brought you the news that senior Anfield sources have insisted their interest has not gone beyond the due diligence process at present but he is most certainly a player whose ceiling and current ability mean he is well-liked within the club.
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As seen by the Reds' move for Dominik Dominik Szoboszlai, if Liverpool opt to move for a player, a deal is usually swiftly conducted. And Martin appeared to concede that he is powerless in preventing some players from leaving, telling BBC Radio Solent: ‘I hope I can convince some people to stay who were happy 50-50 about it. I think there will be some players who we can’t avoid who will be back in the Premier League.
‘That’s the nature of the game and some of them will be far too attractive to Premier League teams and will want to go and play in the Premier League. You have to respect that.
‘I will try my very best with the work that we do and the way we treat and interact with the players, we’ll try our very best to keep some players who maybe weren’t sure – or maybe some people weren’t sure on.
‘It’s difficult playing in struggling teams, I’ve been in struggling teams in the Premier League and you can never give the best of yourself.
‘There will be some players here who didn’t have a great season last season who will hopefully be infused by the work we’re doing and I’m pretty sure there will be a lot of players who’ll look very different in the Championship by the way we’re going to do things, hopefully.’
