Chelsea complete £58m deal to sign Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia

Chelsea have completed the signing of midfielder Romeo Lavia from Southampton in a deal worth £58m.

The deal is worth an initial £53m plus £5m in add-ons with the 19-year-old signing a seven-year deal at Stamford Bridge.

The transfer means Chelsea’s first-choice midfield this season will likely be comprised of Lavia, Enzo Fernandez, and Moises Caicedo. 

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On completing his move to Chelsea, Lavia said: “I’m really happy join Chelsea and be a part of this exciting project. It’s an amazing football club with a great history and I’m really excited to get started.

“I can’t wait to meet all my new team-mates and build a chemistry together to achieve great things together.”

Chelsea co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley added: “We are very pleased to welcome Romeo to Chelsea. He demonstrated his quality in the Premier League last season at Southampton, showing maturity despite his young age, and is a player we have monitored for some time.

“We believe he is ready to make an impact at Chelsea throughout the current campaign, and in the coming years.”

Chelsea beat Liverpool to the signing of Lavia after the Reds agreed their own deal with Southampton.

Sources told Sky Sports News the total package agreed between Liverpool and Southampton was worth £60m, but the Belgian midfielder made clear his preference for moving to Stamford Bridge.

Liverpool already missed out on Caicedo to Chelsea after the Brighton midfielder moved to Stamford Bridge for a British record £115m. Liverpool had a £111m offer accepted by Brighton only for the 21-year-old to inform them he only intended to join Chelsea.

Lavia started his career in Belgium with Anderlecht, spending eight years at club before joining Manchester City at the age of 16.

He made his senior debut at the Etihad Stadium in September 2021, started in the EFL Cup against Wycombe Wanderers in a 6-1 victory.

The midfielder made one further appearance for City before completing a switch to Southampton last summer. Lavia made 34 appearances for Saints in a season that ended with relegation at St Mary’s.

Chelsea have now splashed a league-topping £343.9m this summer.

Lavia becomes the club’s 11th signing of the window, having also signed Moises Caicedo (£115m), Christopher Nkunku (£52m), Axel Disasi (£38.8m), Nicolas Jackson (£32m), Robert Sanchez (£25m), Lesley Ugochukwu (£23.1m), Angelo Gabriel, Ishe Samuels-Smith, Diego Moreira and Alex Matos (all undisclosed).