Barcelona failed in attempt to sign €40 million-rated Liverpool target on loan

Barcelona’s search for a new pivot midfielder is close to ending as they are set to sign Oriol Romeu from Girona soon.

However, the road has not been easy as the La Liga champions looked at several options but found their hands tied due to their financial situation.

The likes of Martin Zubimendi, Joshua Kimmich, and Marcelo Brozovic were all on the club’s agenda at some point but they were not going to fit into the Catalans’ current economic reality.

Before settling in on Romeu, though, the Blaugrana explored even more avenues and according to SPORT, one of the options they looked at was Southampton youngster Romeo Lavia.

After spending two years in Manchester City’s youth setup, the 19-year-old left for Southampton last summer and enjoyed a stunning campaign even though the Saints ended up getting relegated.

Not keen on playing Championship football, Lavia will be on the move this summer and has no shortage of suitors, with several top clubs in England keen. Liverpool have shown the strongest interest in Lavia, while Arsenal and Manchester United are also linked.

However, as it turned out, Barcelona too were attracted by the 19-year-old prospect and made enquiries about a possible move.

The report states that the Blaugrana are convinced that the Belgian international will explode into a top defensive midfielder in the future and can play for any elite club.

As such, the Catalan giants tried to sign Lavia on loan for the upcoming season, but with an option for purchase included. Contacts were made about a possible move and the player looked favourably on the potential switch to Barcelona.

However, Southampton were uninterested in such an operation and will only consider selling the youngster for a transfer fee of €40 million. And hence, a move for Lavia never took off and Barcelona are now signing Romeu to fill the void in the defensive midfield slot.

Player valuation in title obtained from transfermarkt.com on date of publication.