The negotiations with Brighton & Hove Albion, who have included Romeo Lavia as a replacement for Moises Caicedo, continue to be the major sticking point, according to the Daily Mail. Chelsea and Caicedo have already struck an agreement about his signing.
Negotiations have continued because Chelsea hasn’t stated that they want to pay the midfielder’s £100 million asking price to date. It is believed that the Ecuadorian midfielder will travel to the United States with the Seagulls for their preseason matches.
Although the midfielder has already publicly stated his willingness to join the West Londoners, the optimum transfer fee for the 21-year-old is still pending between the two clubs.
Additionally, he attempted to leave the club for Arsenal during the winter transfer window, but Brighton prevented the transfer. However, the Seagulls are willing to let the midfielder go during the summer transfer window, presumably believing that their sixth-place performance in the previous campaign was sufficient compensation for their goals.
Despite Liverpool’s interest and the Saints’ £50 million asking price, the Blues are also interested in signing Southampton midfielder Lavia.
Since there have been no productive discussions with Brighton, the Blues’ top priority to date has been the acquisition of Caicedo. It will be interesting to see how things play out over the next few days. He costs twice as much as Lavia is worth.
Romeo Lavia is a possible replacement for Caicedo at Chelsea.
Despite the fact that both Caicedo and Lavia are superb midfielders who showed their versatility in the Premier League last season, Caicedo would make for a superior addition due to his higher maturity and defensive resiliency. Simply said, he appears to be further ahead in his development than his Belgian counterpart.
The 19-year-old will also not be a subpar replacement. In the Saints’ disastrous 2022–23 campaign, which resulted in their relegation, he was one of their finest performers.
The Ecuadorian, however, has been the Blues’ primary priority up to this point, and talks are still ongoing. When it comes to winning the competition to recruit players like Mykhaylo Mudryk and Enzo Fernandez, we haven’t been afraid to throw the cash about. Brighton could be aware of this. We need Caicedo, but we have to watch out that the Seagulls don’t financially ruin us in the process.