Report: Arsenal will not meet Chelsea target’s £50m price tag

Southampton’s valuation for Romeo Lavia won’t be matched by Arsenal and Liverpool as Chelsea remain interested

As per Sky Sports (h/t Mirror), Arsenal and Liverpool won’t match the £50m valuation by Southampton for Romeo Lavia with Chelsea remaining interested.

Chelsea are currently interested in signing Moises Caicedo as the Ecuador international is their top transfer target for the summer. That deal is proving tough to do as there is a difference in price valuation with Brighton.

It remains to be seen whether the Blues will make a move for Lavia irrespective of what happens with the Caicedo deal. With Arsenal and Liverpool not willing to go that high in their bid for the former, there is a chance for Chelsea to take the lead in that race.

The club have let go of four midfielders in this summer window so far. So, while potentially adding Caicedo is all well and good, they might need one more addition in central midfield to have a chance of doing better next season and beyond.

Although both Lavia and Caicedo are deeper-lying midfielders or midfield destroyers if we can call them, the latter is a more versatile player. He has played in a midfield three as a number eight and has the experience of playing at right-back too.

So, if Chelsea sign both of them, they are not just bolstering their midfield department, but also adding options to Mauricio Pochettino’s table. The boss can then play around with the options he has and form a fantastic midfield that can compete with the best teams in the league.

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It is still early July and a lot can happen in the transfer market. We are not in the panic zone yet. The hope is that Chelsea do the right things in this window as it is important to get the good players in to help start the Pochettino era on the correct path.