As the conclusion to Moises Caicedo’s long drawn out transfer finally nears, it looks like there’s a decision on Romeo Lavia too.
The two midfielders have been at the centre of a tug of war between Liverpool and Chelsea in recent weeks. Indeed, last week in particular saw things ramped up.
With Caicedo now seemingly off to Chelsea in a £115m deal, focus will now shift to who Lavia ends up joining.
And according to journalist Sacha Tavolieri, who has followed and covered the transfer closely, it is indeed Chelsea who have won the race to sign Lavia.
Tavolieri has claimed via his X account that Lavia has indeed been in London over the weekend and has been celebrating with friends. It’s claimed it’s now just a matter of time before Lavia is announced by Chelsea, with the fee expected to around the £55m Southampton wanted.
Lavia’s arrival, coupled with that of Caicedo, will take Chelsea’s spending to over the £300m mark for this window alone.
It will mean the Blues have spent circa £1bn since Todd Boehly and his consortium took over. And with only around £300m recouped in sales, it means pressure is now on for success to come.
Chelsea flex their muscles to beat off Liverpool
Is there really a need for Chelsea to be signing both Lavia and Caicedo? Probably not right now. But it’s yet another show of the financial might that Boehly and co have brought to the table.
Lavia will prove to be a fine signing no doubt. He is young, talented, and there’s a reason why top clubs have gone after him for so long.
The question now for Chelsea is will there be players sold. The likes of Connor Gallagher and others will surely be wondering if they’re going to be moved on.
With that, Pochettino has a tough situation to manage.
