Chelsea set to gazump Liverpool again as Roméo Lavia makes decision — reports

On Monday morning, the future of Roméo Lavia still seemed to be up in the air. Chelsea had lodged a bid late last week, outbidding Liverpool easily, but the Reds had come back with an improved offer of their own — reportedly as much as £60m — and were looking to convince the 19-year-old that their project was the one he should choose.

By Monday evening, Lavia had apparently made his decision. And he has chosen wisely, we might say.

According to multiple reports, including The Athletic, Lavia has decided to emulate Moisés Caicedo in choosing Blue over Red. While nothing is official yet at this point, we’re said to have an agreement in principle with both club and player, with Southampton set to receive £50m plus potential add-ons of around £5m.

That’s certainly yet another hefty chunk of change on a potential future superstar, though the same amount that we were supposedly willing to pay last summer, too (even if those rumors would be eventually debunked). And this time it comes with the delicious added bonus of making Liverpool extra salty. Mmmm, mmm, mmmmm. Finger-licking good!

(As it’s been pointed out on social media, a midfield trio of Lavia, (Enzo) Fernández, and Caicedo spells L-F-C, which is indeed amusing. It’ll be even better if in ten years they spell C-F-L, Chelsea FC Legends.)