On Friday, journalist Sacha Tavolieri reported Chelsea have agreed to meet Southampton’s £50m request to sign Roméo Lavia. He also stated Liverpool may still place a last-minute bid.
Tavolieri took to Twitter to provide an update on the potential battle between the Blues and Liverpool for the midfielder.
He says an agreement is ‘now close’ between Chelsea and Southampton for £52m plus £3m bonuses. The deal isn’t done yet as there is ‘some extra information to be exchanged’ on Saturday.
Liverpool have been chasing the 19-year-old for a while. Therefore, Tavolieri says Chelsea ‘want to anticipate’ a last-minute hijack from the Reds to sign the Belgium international.
This would be possible if the Merseyside club decide to match Southampton’s request. The journalist says Liverpool have been scared to meet the demand so far. Chelsea co-director of recruitment Joe Sheilds is leading their pursuit of Lavia.
It’s claimed the player ‘flirted’ with Liverpool for a long time before the Blues joined the battle.
HLN explain Shields was a scout at Manchester City prior to his brief spell with the Saints in 2022. He signed Lavia for the Citizens and then Southampton, and is trying to bring him to Chelsea.
💰 Agreement between #CFC & #SaintsFC now close to 52M£ + 3M£ add-ons. Not a done deal yet as it left some extra information to be exchanged tomorrow even if Soton accepted the fee as revealed this evening.
🇧🇪✍🏼 Blues wants to extend the number of contract years from 5 to 7… pic.twitter.com/aNnajwrR5g— Sacha Tavolieri (@sachatavolieri) August 12, 2023
