How Man City could earn up to £10m from Liverpool summer transfer activity

Southampton have reportedly rejected an opening offer of £37m from Liverpool for midfielder Romeo Lavia.

As per The Athletic, the south coast club are hoping for a fee closer to £50m for the 19-year-old, who impressed for Southampton last season despite their eventual relegation to the Championship.

Lavia only joined the Saints last summer from Manchester City, with Southampton paying  an initial price of £10.5m for the youngster, which could rise to £14m. City also inserted a 20 percent sell-on fee for any future transfer, meaning the treble-winners could profit from Liverpool’s pursuit of Lavia.

There was a buy-back clause included in the sale last year as well, which allows City to purchase the player for an agreed upon price - a figure that is believed to be around £40m, although ManchesterWorld understand that is only applicable in 2024.

However, at present City do not plan on adding to their midfield this summer. Mateo Kovacic has already arrived from Chelsea to replace Ilkay Gundogan, while Kalvin Phillips is expected to remain at the Etihad this summer. Bernardo Silva has attracted interest from elsewhere, namely Paris Saint-Germain, but City are not contemplating a sale at this stage.

Along with Rodri and Kevin De Bruyne, that leaves City with five senior midfielders, although John Stones operated in an auxiliary midfield role last term, while youngsters James McAtee and Maximo Perrone are options for Pep Guardiola this season.

The Blues return to competitive action sooner than most, when they take on Arsenal in next weekend’s Community Shield final. The top two from last season meet at Wembley on Sunday 6 August, before City face Burnley five days later in the opening match of the 2023/24 Premier League campaign.