“He is highly rated”- Romano gives boost to Chelsea in pursuit of ex-Manchester City starlet

Chelsea and Arsenal handed an advantage Romeo Lavia race

Chelsea and Arsenal now have the upper hand thanks to Manchester City in their chase of Romeo Lavia from Southampton.

The 19-year-old was sold to the Saints for £11 million last summer, but City also had the option of re-signing him since the agreement that brought him to St. Mary’s contained a repurchase clause should they want to do so.

But now there is a specific provision that states that it won’t be in action this summer because it won’t take hold until 2024. Once that agreement is in effect, City will have the opportunity to exercise the Belgian release clause, which is set at about £40 million.

And since that city have ruled itself out of the running, this opportunity may enable Chelsea and Arsenal to make a swift offer to the Saints for the upcoming season.

On his YouTube channel, transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano went into further detail regarding the deal (h/t Football.London)

“Let me say one thing: the buy-back clause for Manchester City is in the contract starting from summer 2024, not now. This is why Man City do not have full control over Lavia this upcoming summer. Other clubs are interested, and Arsenal is keeping an eye on the player,”

“I also wanted to add Chelsea, because on deadline day (last summer), they made an important bid—a really important bid—for Romeo Lavia, which was close to £50 million. It was a verbal proposal when they were looking for a midfielder. My understanding is that Chelsea remain interested in Romeo Lavia, and he is highly rated by Chelsea.”

The Blues have an excellent opportunity to capture the highly-esteemed midfielder for the upcoming campaign and will probably just have to deal with Arsenal for the time being. However, one should note that this shouldn’t stop Manchester City from holding talks before the end of next season – if they are interested in him, to begin with.

With the Saints, he has already demonstrated his talent at the age of 19, and the fact that he has played in 18 games indicates how crucial he has been to the team.

Moreover, our deadline-day bid for the Belgian midfielder shows that we have looked at him with the intent of signing him. We signed Enzo Fernandez on the last day of the window for a British record fee, so it can’t be said for sure if we made the bid for Lavia as a potential alternative for the Argentine.

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And he certainly will want to join a competent club, while Saints’ safety in the Premier League is in serious danger as they are battling in the relegation zone. The competition will be there for him but let us go out and get him considering N’Golo Kante’s career seems to be on the decline.