It was third-time unlucky for Liverpool when they saw their latest bid for Romeo Lavia rejected by Southampton.

The Reds’ latest offer was worth an overall £46m, following on from initial bids of £34m plus £4m in add-ons, and an overall £42m package. All three remained short of the Saints’ £50m asking price. While negotiations between the two clubs are ongoing, it has become an unwanted drawn-out transfer saga.

After all, Liverpool remain without a senior holding midfielder, following the unexpected departures of Fabinho and Jordan Henderson to Saudi Arabia. With the start of the Reds’ Premier League season just four days away, the dragged out nature of negotiations is a hot topic.

“This is embarrassing,” club legend Jamie Carragher fumed on Twitter following his old side’s latest rejected offer. “Liverpool for years now have got deals done quickly with no fuss.

“If you don’t think he’s worth 50m move on, if you really want him, pay it. Also not sure why LFC aren’t in for Caicedo, yes it’s a lot of money but Liverpool got big money for JH/FAB [Jordan Henderson/Fabinho].”

While Carragher might have a point, admittedly it may not be as simple as that.

While Liverpool have upped their bid by £4m each time, and remain £4m short of the asking price, it is unclear how much of the initial fee would be paid upfront and how achievable the accompanying add-ons actually were. Clearly, the deeper details and structure of such an offer determine how attractive it actually would be to Southampton.

Prior to Fabinho’s departure, the Reds had considered Lavia as a potential long-term replacement, but the £50m asking price turned them away. However, pursuing the Belgian became more important after they lost their holding midfielder to Al-Ittihad.

Yet it seems sense that Liverpool would be hesitant to shell out £50 million for the 19-year-old. Despite the fact that he is still a teenager and has only made 29 appearances in the top division, a cost of this magnitude would make him the sixth most expensive player in their history.

The Reds’ managers like that their high-priced signings have played between 150 and 200 senior games by the time they join the team.

However, with midfielder costs skyrocketing and few and far between high-caliber holding options available, the transfer window is currently a seller’s market. Saudi Arabia’s impact, along with the fact that Declan Rice and Enzo Fernandez were sold for over £100 million, has caused a rippling effect that has raised prices everywhere.

Meanwhile, despite Southampton’s relegation from the Premier League, they are under no pressure to sell Lavia for less than their asking price.

“We are looking at all options, but let’s be realistic,” Saints chief executive Phil Parsons told BBC Radio Solent Sport last week.

“We’ve got 30-plus players and we don’t need 30-plus players. We’re actually in a position to make sure the finances balance out quite well and you do get hit substantially being relegated.

“We can trim the squad, we can sell assets if we want to. We won’t be selling assets on the cheap. And that’s why we stood firm on a few.

“We will develop a lot of players over the coming years and there will be players who gone on to join top-four clubs but we won’t be doing it at a cheap rate, we will be doing it at the going rate. If clubs want to place offers with us, we will look at them. We won’t be saying just yes to any offer through the door.

“Southampton is a great club and if you do well for Southampton and deserve a move, maybe we’ll look at it but let’s focus on Southampton first and doing well and then we’ll talk about other clubs second.”