If you believe the rumour mill then Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United lead a host of clubs interested in signing Romeo Lavia from Southampton this summer, however there are a few twists in the saga to come yet, but it seems Newcastle United won't be one of them.
Saints have report ably set a £50 million starting price for Romeo Lavia only a year after buying him for only £10.5 million a year ago from Manchester City and it seems that the big clubs are still interested even at that price, such is his potential and reputation.
However it seems that the club with the most money are not interested in getting into a bidding war according to Football League World
Newcastle United are now said to be pulling out of the running to sign Lavia, they consider the £50 million too much for a player who is still only 19 and has only 29 Premier League games to his name.
The Toon are also said to have ended their interest in James Ward Prowse again feeling that the price is too high.
The current favourites to land Lavia are now Chelsea and Liverpool, with Arsenal perhaps dropping back whilst they pursue Declan Rice.
So that is 5 of the Big 7 covered in the chase for Romeo Lavia, but what of the other 2 Tottenham Hotspur & his old club Manchester City.
Spurs might be hard pushed to meet the asking price with no income from European football, not to mention that this will also be a factor in any player they do pursue from not just a financial perspective but also a footballing one.
That just leaves Manchester City and this is where there could be a twist or two, the Premier League Champions have a £40 million buy back clause that can be activated next summer, but would they be willing to offer £10 million more to get him a year earlier ?
That is the question and one that might just see Lavia stay at St Mary's another year, it could be that Pep Guardiola does not see him as first team material just yet, he might want to see him get another year under his belt of regular first team football first.
That seemed to be the plan for City when they sold Lavia, they knew that chances would be limited for him at such a young age, so two years in the Premier League at Southampton to get him First team ready at City and buying him back was a good gamble.
The only problem was Southampton ruined their plan by getting relegated and whereas Lavia might have been content with another season in the Premier League with Saints, is he still prepared to sit tight in the Championship.
It will depend on how much he still speaks to those at City, will they convince him that staying at Saints for a year and then returning to City is a better option than going to any of their rivals.
The truth is that even Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal & Manchester United can no longer compete with City financially and the gap is widening, ironically only Newcastle seem to have the clout to keep up with them on the money front and in this case they seem to be careful with the purse strings.
There are a lot of twists to this transfer yet and Romeo Lavia kicking off the season in a Saints shirt is not as far fetched as you might think it would be, whether he reaches February still wearing it, is another matter.
Saints are in a strong position here, they have a great talent on a long term contract, the only snag being City can buy him back for £40 million, as much as they might rate Lavia and want to keep him, they know that they will get less from City next summer than they can get this summer pr for that matter in the January transfer window.