Chelsea are set to rival Liverpool for Southampton star Romeo Lavia
Chelsea have submitted an opening bid of £48 million for Southampton’s sought-after midfielder Romeo Lavia, with Liverpool also in the race to land the youngster.
As per the Athletic, (h/t Metro) Chelsea and Liverpool are set to battle for the 19-year-old, with the Blues making their opening offer, and now it remains to be seen how the Saints will respond. The report further claims the West Londoners bid includes add-ons, and the talks with Southampton have been said to be going on since Wednesday.
The Belgium midfielder was also not in Southampton’s squad in their 3-1 defeat to Gillingham in their opening round of the Carabao Cup on Tuesday evening. This is good news as he will not be cup tied should we land him.
Liverpool are keen to sign the former Manchester City midfielder, and they have seen their two bids turned down by the Championship side after the latest £45m proposal was rejected by the Saints.
Chelsea’s direct offer of £48 million could or may not be enough to persuade them to trade the highly sought-after midfielder, as the Saints want £50 million for the coveted player. The Blues are also looking to sign Moises Caicedo and have finally found a breakthrough after months of negotiations with Brighton & Hove Albion.
The fact that we have made progress with Caicedo’s negotiations with Brighton and also made a bid for Lavia might is certainly good for Chelsea fans. Lavia is still developing and would like to play in every game, whereas Caicedo more experienced albeit being only a tad older. So we can imagine a midfield of Lavia-Caicedo and Enzo Fernandez after we lost Mateo Kovacic, and N’Golo Kante in one window.
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But given that anything can happen during the transfer season, it’s possible that Chelsea made a bid for the Southampton player in case our prospects of acquiring the Ecuadorian midfielder hit a snag. Now it’s up to Liverpool how they will react to our offer, as they are also in the running and our offer may further pressure them to meet Southampton’s demands.