Romeo Lavia felt Liverpool's 'second choice' after 'bemusing' transfer tactic

15 August 2023 , 21:45

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Romeo Lavia has rejected Liverpool for Chelsea (Image: James Williamson/Getty Images)

Romeo Lavia is set to join Chelsea from Southampton this summer after reportedly becoming disillusioned with Liverpool’s approach to signing him.

Chelsea agreed a fee of £53m plus £5m in add-ons for the 19-year-old midfielder on Tuesday evening. He is now poised to follow in the footsteps of Moises Caicedo by rejecting Liverpool in favour of joining Mauricio Pochettino’s side.

Liverpool are in desperate need of reinforcements in central midfield after losing captain Jordan Henderson and Fabinho to the riches of the Saudi Pro League. But they failed in their pursuit of Caicedo, who joined Chelsea in a deal worth £115m, and have now been rebuffed a second time by Lavia.

The Reds have made at least three offers for Lavia over the last few weeks, which peaked at around £45m. Jurgen Klopp’s side knew all along that Saints valued their Belgium international at over £50m, yet took a slow approach to negotiations with the Championship side.

Their tactics have backfired and allowed Chelsea to swoop in and make Lavia feel wanted in west London. The Guardian reports that sources in Lavia’s camp have ‘expressed bemusement’ over Liverpool’s behaviour.

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Liverpool’s pursuit of Caicedo came somewhat out of the blue, after they had already been chasing Lavia, leaving the Southampton midfielder to feel like their ‘second choice’. The Reds offered £110m for Caicedo and were prepared to break the British transfer record to get the Ecuador international.

But like Lavia, Caicedo always had his heart set on a move to Chelsea, meaning their approach was in vain. After announcing the big-money signing, Chelsea made a little dig at their rivals by using the caption "It's only ever been Chelsea" on social media.

Romeo Lavia will have a medical with Chelsea ahead of a £53m move (Getty Images)

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That was confirmed by the former Brighton man, who said: “I am so excited to be here at this big club and I didn’t have to think twice when Chelsea called me, I just knew I wanted to sign for the club.”

Southampton director of football Jason Wilcox confirmed on Tuesday night that the club were making progress in the sale of Lavia. "I think you know, it's well known that we've had some significant interest in Romeo, we've had an offer which we accepted from Liverpool," he said at a BBC Solent Fans’ Forum event.

"Then Chelsea came to the table. So we're currently in negotiation with Chelsea now so it's a real tricky period for Romeo. But I'm confident that something will get done in the next week or so or in the next few days.”

Manchester City will receive 20 per cent of the eventful fee for Lavia, having inserted a sell-on clause in the deal which saw him join Saints last summer. Despite Southampton’s relegation, Lavia impressed in the Premier League and is now poised to move back up a division.

Felix Keith