Continued to beat Liverpool in the race for midfielder Romeo Lavia.
According to The Athletic, Chelsea reached an agreed to buy Lavia from Southampton for $ 63 million at the end of August 14. The 19-year-old defensive midfielder personally chose the home team at Stamford Bridge, instead of going to Liverpool.
The Lavia case is similar to the Moises Caicedo case that took place a few days earlier. After Chelsea offered $ 127 million for the Ecuadorian player, Liverpool raised the price to 139 million. But while Liverpool were waiting for the medical examination of Caicedo, the midfielder stated that he only wanted to go to Stamford Bridge. The transfer ended after Chelsea raised the price to 146 million and set a new record of English football.
Chelsea have pursued Lavia since last year. On the last day of the summer transfer window 2022, the London team also paid 63 million, but Southampton refused to sell. The home team of St Mary’s only changed its opinion after being relegated in the 2022-2023 season.
Lavia used to play for Man City, before being sold to Southampton for $ 13 million. Man City will receive 20% of the transfer fee from the sale to Chelsea. Prior to that, Lavia had eight years of training with the Anderlecht youth team. With Belgium, the 19-year-old midfielder made his debut in a friendly against Germany 3-2 on March 28.
In season 2022-2023, Lavia played 34 matches for Southampton, including 29 starts, scored one goal and provided one assist. However, the young Belgian player could not save the home team of St Mary’s. This summer, the English first division team also parted ways with Mislav Orsic, Ibrahima Diallo, Mohammed Salisu, Tino Livramento, and James Ward-Prowse.
Since the beginning of the summer transfer window of 2023, Chelsea has spent $ 429 million to buy players. However, they also earned 279 million from the sale. On August 13, in the Premier League opening match at home, Chelsea drew 1-1 with Liverpool. Luis Diaz opened the scoring for the visitors, but rookie defender Alex Disasi equalized for Chelsea in the first half.
