Chelsea hijack dream Liverpool transfer for Moises Caicedo alternative as midfield plan clear

Chelsea have dealt Liverpool a major blow in the race to sign Romeo Lavia. The 19-year-old midfielder has been heavily linked with an exit from Southampton this summer following an impressive debut campaign in the Premier League.

Lavia, who sees his contract at St. Mary’s expire in 2027, featured 29 times for the Saints in the English top-flight last season, missing a large chunk of the year due to a hamstring injury. Despite his eye-catching displays, he couldn’t save Southampton from relegation to the Championship.

Russell Martin now faces a mightily difficult task in keeping Lavia at the club, with Mauricio Pochettino and Jurgen Klopp both eager to further bolster their midfield options this summer. football.london understands that the Blues are huge admirers of the Belgium international and he’s somebody who has been on their radar for a while now.

In fact, it’s believed that Chelsea initially opened talks with Southampton over a potential deal for Lavia a couple of months ago, but nothing progressed despite having conducted extensive scouting research. Fast forward a couple of couple months and the west Londoners appear to have reignited their pursuit of the teenage sensation, while the chase to sign Moises Caicedo prolongs.

According to The Athletic, Southampton have received a £48million offer, including add-ons, from Chelsea for Lavia. The report states that the Blues submitted their bid on Wednesday night and talks are ongoing, with the Saints asking for £50million.

It’s said that Liverpool had a third bid in the region of £46million for the Belgian rejected earlier this week. Lavia was heavily linked with a move to Stamford Bridge towards the end of last summer – though just weeks after leaving Manchester City to join Southampton.

In March, the youngster responded to speculation over his future on the south coast. He was quizzed on the possibility of rejoining Pep Guardiola’s side, but he quickly shut down the reports and insisted that it’s ‘too early to consider’.

“I didn’t want to prove anything, I was concentrating on my path,” said Lavia, as reported by Belgian publication DH. “I’m proud to be here, I now want to try to scratch the minutes. Not being called up for the World Cup? I took it calmly, I waited for my moment and today I’m here.”

Then, ahead of City’s clash with the Saints in April, Guardiola heaped tremendous praise on the youngster for his meteoric rise to superstardom since leaving the Etihad Stadium. He said: “[We’re] really impressed with what Romeo [Lavia] is doing, we have an incredible opinion about him. We thought to keep him but we thought maybe he doesn’t get enough minutes like he’ll get in Southampton.”