Liverpool are eyeing yet another raid on Southampton as they ponder a transfer move for Mario Lemina, according to L’Equipe.
The Gabon midfielder arrived at Southampton last summer from Juventus for a then-club record fee of £18 million, and has been one of the Saints’ best players during a troubled season for the south coast club.
Liverpool have already completed a deal for RB Leipzig’s Naby Keita to join this summer, and they would like to pair the Guinean midfielder with Lemina.
If a deal happens, he would be the seventh player the Reds have recruited from Southampton since 2014. Dejan Lovren, Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert, Nathaniel Clyne, Sadio Mane, and most recently Virgil van Dijk have made the switch from south coast to Merseyaide.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, whom Liverpool recruited from Arsenal last summer, is another former Southampton player in their ranks.
However, the Van Dijk deal was completed this January under acrimonious circumstances, which means a Liverpool advance for Lemina will not go down well.
Reds manager Jurgen Klopp is well-stocked in midfield, with Keita set to arrive in a team that already includes Giorginio Wijnaldum, Jordan Henderson, James Milner, Emre Can, Lallana, and Oxlade-Chamberlain.
However, rumours have abounded that Can could leave at the end of the season, and one of the other incumbents may also make way for Lemina, who’s had an impressive debut season in the Premier League.