Romeo Lavia has claimed Chelsea's history was one of the reasons behind him snubbing Liverpool in favour of a move to Stamford Bridge.
The Belgian’s £58 million deal was completed on Friday morning, leaving him free to play for his new club as soon as this weekend. Lavia has signed a seven-year contract following a lengthy transfer saga, which saw Liverpool agree a fee with Southampton - only for the player to push for a move to Chelsea.
His public refusal came just days after Moises Caicedo made the same decision, with Maurcio Pochettino now boasting a midfield to rival any in world football. And speaking after his deal was confirmed, Lavia insisted that the project and ambitions of the club, along with their successful recent history were the determining reasons behind his choice.
He told the club’s site: “I’m really happy and proud to join this football club, a club with a big history and it’s a privilege for me to be able to put this shirt on today.
“I think the project and the ambitions of the club were key factors, but also the history behind it and these were the three factors behind determining my decision.”
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Lavia added: “First of all, Mauricio Pochettino is a great manager, I think we all know what he’s done before and when I spoke to him, it was pretty clear what he wanted and the direction he wanted the team to go. I was really pleased to hear what he wanted and his energy was something that matched with mine, so I’m really excited to start working with him."
Lavia becomes Chelsea’s eighth summer signing as spending under Todd Boehly approaches the £1bn mark in just three windows under his stewardship.
“Yeah It’s a very exciting time, and most of the time the players that we’ve signed are players that I’ve played against and I thought these players are good so to be able to work with them is a great feeling,” the Manchester City academy graduate added.
Romeo Lavia has been speaking after completing his £58m move to Chelsea“I think we’re all young and good players so it will be good to get each other better and that’s the only way to succeed. I spoke to Wesley Fofana - he’s a good friend of mine - and it seems to be a dressing room with a great vibe and I just wanted to be a part of it.”
Chelsea’s co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley said: “We are very pleased to welcome Romeo to Chelsea. He demonstrated his quality in the Premier League last season at Southampton, showing maturity despite his young age, and is a player we have monitored for some time.
“We believe he is ready to make an impact at Chelsea throughout the current campaign, and in the coming years.”
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