15 August 2023 , 20:36
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Chelsea have agreed a fee of £53m plus £5m in add-ons for Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia.
The midfielder, who only joined Southampton from Manchester City last summer, was also a target for Liverpool. Jurgen Klopp's side had a bid accepted for the Belgian youngster but could be about to lose out to Chelsea for yet another target.
Just days earlier, Liverpool had stepped up their pursuit of Moises Caicedo, only for their rivals to beat them to the punch. Chelsea agreed a Premier League record move for Ecuador midfielder Caicedo, who joined from Brighton in a £115m deal.
It is understood City will benefit from the transfer too and will receive 20 per cent of the fee, having inserted a sell-on clause when they sold him to the Saints. Lavia's exit would also mark the second time in August that one of the shining lights of their last Premier League season has left St Mary's. James Ward-Prowse, who captained the side last season, completed a move to West Ham United earlier in the month.
The latest development over Lavia comes not long after Southampton director of football Jason Wilcox indicated an end to the Lavia saga could be reached in a matter of days. Manchester City are believed to have a buy-back clause for the 19-year-old, but this does not come into force until 2024, allowing for a bidding war this summer.
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"I think you know, it's well known that we've had some significant interest in Romeo, we've had an offer which we accepted from Liverpool," Wilcox said at a BBC Solent Fans’ Forum event. "Then Chelsea came to the table.
"So we're currently in negotiation with Chelsea now so it's a real tricky period for Romeo. But I'm confident that something will get done in the next week or so or in the next few days.
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Southampton are expected to make a significant profit on Romeo Lavia (Getty Images)"And I think, you know, when we look at what Romeo's achieved here, I think every one of us here wouldn't want to lose him but the reality is, we're in the Championship and we need to reinvest and by buying Shea Charles, we've got another one who hopefully we can do the same with. So good luck to Romeo. Let's say it's not done yet. But we envisage in the next few days it will be completed.”
If Liverpool do indeed lose out to Chelsea, it will leave their midfield looking thin with just over two weeks of the summer transfer window remaining. The Reds completed moves for Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai relatively early in the window, but then lost both Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to the Saudi Pro League.
Chelsea, meanwhile, are finally beginning to rebuild in the middle of the park after losing N'Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic and Ruben Loftus-Cheek. Caicedo is expected to link up with January arrival Enzo Fernandez in the middle of the park, while another new arrival - French youngster Lesley Ugochukwu, made his Premier League debut from the bench against Liverpool on Sunday.
That game ended 1-1, with Axel Disasi equalising after Luis Diaz put Liverpool in front. Chelsea travel to West Ham for their next game, with Liverpool hosting Bournemouth.