With only four games left to play, Chelsea has had a difficult 2022–23 season thus far, winning just 11 games.
Graham Potter was fired after only six months in his position, which underwent a lot of upheaval in that short amount of time. Frank Lampard has had a difficult time since taking over for him.
In an effort to boost their performance, the club brought in eight new players in January, spending a record-breaking sum in a supposedly market-breaking winter transfer window.
The Blues’ chances of playing in Europe are gone, therefore the upcoming season will be one of rebuilding and a chance to properly integrate the players that joined in the offseason under disarray.
Neymar has been mentioned in connection with a number of transfers ahead of the summer transfer window, suggesting that Chelsea is far from done spending lavishly.
A Premier League midfielder who has caught the Blues’ attention has been mentioned as a more plausible transfer target.
What’s new with Romeo Lavia going to Chelsea?
Romeo Lavia, a midfielder for Southampton, has been a star performer for the Championship-bound team this year.
The 19-year-old Belgian has controlled play in the backfield for the Saints since joining from Manchester City’s academy in the summer of last year, making 25 league appearances.
Lavia, who is now valued at £45 million by his present club, was listed as the “top” summer target for Chelsea by Football Insider late last month.
The midfielder is one to watch this summer for his next destination because Liverpool and Arsenal are said to be interested in him as well.
What might Romeo Lavia bring to Chelsea?
Pep Guardiola said that the midfielder has “really impressed” him since joining, which is just the beginning of the plaudits that the young player has accrued in his first senior campaign in a difficult situation.
The teen is among the top ten performers on his squad with an average Sofascore match rating of 6.85 this semester.
Rio Ferdinand, a legend of the Premier League and a former Manchester United player, praised Lavia on BT Sport and praised him for being able to play “both sides of the game.”
Ferdinand said he is “equally good defensively but also once he is on the ball he has tremendous feet and can pass.”
The youthful player maintains a successful pass rate of 86.1% for the struggling Saints, so the six-time Premier League champion is not mistaken in his praise.
He is among the top 9% of players in his position in the top 5 leagues in Europe for blocks made this season, demonstrating his defensive presence in midfield as well as his natural sense of the game and quick reflexes to events around him.
With just two assists in 14 league appearances since his record-breaking debut in west London in January, Enzo Fernandez has struggled to realize his full potential. The signing of Lavia may change that.
The £106.8 million midfielder is in a position to fully realise his potential at Stamford Bridge, but he would benefit from having a long-term ball-playing defensive partner in the middle of the pitch, as he had Florentino Luiz at Benfica, who was referred to be the midfield’s ‘anchor’. In fact, if Lavia signs, that would be the position he would fill next to the Argentine maestro.
If Chelsea can finalise the Lavia trade, they may have a midfield pairing for many years to come with a player who is only 22 years old. Deal might help not only the teenage Belgian player, but also the most expensive player in the world.