Liverpool hopes to agree a transfer for Roméo Lavia soon, making the Man City graduate the heir to Fabinho. Longer-term, this kind of deal may become a rarity
There would be something satisfying about building the next great Liverpool side around Roméo Lavia. A product of the Manchester City youth setup, the Reds look
set to get in a year before their great rival’s buy-back clause activates, in a move which could cause a sense of regret at the Etihad for years to come.
So much of Manchester City’s success over the past eight years has been built around Kevin De Bruyne, who in turn was deemed surplus to requirements at Chelsea.
If Liverpool were to turn the tables, molding Lavia into one of the best in the world in his position, it would be bound to sting.
Yet if there were any reservations at Manchester City last summer about selling Lavia, they were comfortably outweighed by the money being thrown around. In the
biggest vindication yet of the club’s youth recruitment strategy, Pep Guardiola oversaw a summer of major sales for players who were some way away from his first
team plans.
READ MORE: PSG may complain to FIFA over Kylian Mbappé as ex Liverpool boss faces Man City transfer ‘fight’
In a bizarre twist, Southampton alone snapped up four of Manchester City’s young prospects. Clearly, the overall plan did not go brilliantly, with the Saints relegated
to the Championship and now set to lose the pick of the bunch. In particular, Gavin Bazunu proved to be a poor acquisition, with the starting role between the sticks
proving to be too much for him at this stage of his career.
But it’s unlikely to put teams off seeking to buy Guardiola’s young stars. Since the takeover, Manchester City has developed state-of-the-art facilities and brought in
elite coaches, and the long-term blueprint is starting to reap rewards. Meanwhile, simply being at the club in the first place brings with it a reputation that inflates
price tags.
Sure enough, Southampton forked out $52m (£41m/€47m) to Manchester City last summer to acquire Lavia, Bazunu, Samuel Edozie and Juan Larios. Those are
significant funds, and ones which give Guardiola some real Financial Fair Play freedom when it comes to strengthening the first team.
Yet there’s something interesting about all four of these players. None are ‘true’ Manchester City academy graduates: they were all brought into the youth setup from
other club’s academies. Larios came through Tomares, Sevilla and Barcelona before joining, Edozie is a Millwall product, Lavia was brought through at Andelecht
and Bazunu came from Shamrock Rovers.
These shrewd investments early in players’ careers have netted Manchester City a significant profit. There are clear signs that Liverpool is pursuing the same plan —
and hopefully improving it, so that genuine first-team options like Lavia do not slip through the net.
Recently, Fabrizio Romano reported that Liverpool is in talks to sign Amara Nallo, a 2006-born defender from the West Ham academy setup. And that’s just the
latest in a concerted process.
Sneaked in before the end of EU rules allowing under-18s from Europe to be signed, Stefan Bajčetić has shown that young signings can be molded into first-team
options, not just profit-makers. Since then, a focus on the British and Irish market has yielded the hugely exciting Ben Doak, while Kaide Gordon has also made a
senior bow already.
Then there’s others like Trent Kone-Doherty and Bobby Clark — and going further back, Harvey Elliott and Caoimhín Kelleher. The nature of this transfer policy is
that it takes a while to come good, but Liverpool is well on track to reap the rewards.
In that way, it can create its own Lavia in the future. Even better, any players brought through in this manner will qualify as homegrown, having trained in England
for three or more years before turning 21. And while Liverpool is bound to take the Manchester City route sometimes, cashing in and funding more first-team
investment, there look to be clear pathways for a number of Jürgen Klopp’s top talents.
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Robbie Savage says Kylian Mbappe leaving Paris Saint-Germain to join Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool on a loan deal this summer would be
‘unbelievable’ for the English side.
It seems as though PSG have had enough of their star man and they are doing everything they can to get rid of him this summer amid a possible free transfer to Real
Madrid next summer.
From big-money offers from Saudi Arabia to a host of Premier League clubs wanting him on board, including crazy talk of Tottenham.
Everything is open it seems for Kylian Mbappe, but when talk of the France international possibly moving to Liverpool on loan was mooted, Savage stated that he
can’t see it happening, as he told 606 on BBC Radio 5 Live Sport.
A one-year loan deal just wouldn’t make sense for anybody, even if he helps you win the European Cup because it’s such a short-term move that will hurt your long-
term finances.
That’s probably why Savage can see Mbappe staying at PSG this summer and then moving to Madrid in 12 months.
“Mbappe is being linked with Liverpool on loan,” said Savage. “Really? Do you think that could happen?! Mbappe to Liverpool? Do you think he is better than that?
“For Liverpool, that would be unbelievable. Liverpool aren’t in the Champions League. They are in the Europa League.
“I can’t see it happening. Mbappe would want to play Champions League, minimum.
“He was linked with a move to Saudi Arabia. That didn’t happen. I think he will end up at Real Madrid.”
Mbappe transfer saga
The only winners in this are probably going to be the player himself and Madrid – Chelsea boss, Mauricio Pochettino, who worked with him in Paris, previously
dubbed him ‘arrogant’ (The Athletic) for a reason, but in a good way.
At the end of the day, he has a contract, which PSG put on the table for him, so if he honours it, and then leaves for nothing in 12 months, he isn’t doing anything
wrong and they only have themselves to blame if they have an issue with it.
PSG created this monster by giving him so much money and power, so reap what you sow.
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