Chelsea To Beat Liverpool To Another Transfer Target After Agreeing £58m Deal For Southampton's Romeo Lavia

Chelsea look set to beat Liverpool to the signing of 19-year-old midfielder Romeo Lavia after agreeing a deal with Southampton.

Liverpool and Chelsea kicked off the new Premier League season with a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. But it could soon be 2-0 to Chelsea in terms of transfer battles with the Reds this summer.

Liverpool had been keen to sign Moises Caicedo and even had an offer accepted by Brighton earlier this month before the Ecuador international rejected a move to Anfield in favor of his dream transfer to west London.

Chelsea made Caicedo the most expensive player in Premier League history on Monday when he completed a transfer worth £115 million.

But that was seemingly not the end of Chelsea's summer spending.

According to BBC Sport, the Blues are now poised to sign Lavia for £53m plus £5m in add-ons.

Chelsea are close to signing Romeo Lavia from Southampton

IMAGO/PA Images/Mark Pain

Southampton accepted Chelsea's offer on Tuesday, after turning down three bids from Liverpool.

Liverpool's third bid for Lavia was said to be worth around £46m including add-ons.

Lavia joined Southampton from Manchester City in July last year.

Southampton paid City an initial fee of £10.5m. That deal also included the possibility of a further £3.5m in add-ons, plus a 20% sell-on clause.

Lavia featured in 29 Premier League games for Southampton last season, scoring one goal. That goal came in a 2-1 win against Chelsea in August 2022.

He has been capped once by Belgium at senior international level.

Lavia pictured celebrating after scoring his first ever Premier League goal in Southampton's 2-1 win over Chelsea in August 2022

IMAGO/PA Images/Steven Paston