Sacha Tavolieri has outlined a few reasons as to why Romeo Lavia is likely to snub a move to Chelsea in favour of joining Liverpool instead this summer.
The Reds had an opening £37m bid for the Southampton midfielder turned down this week (The Athletic), although the west London club are also thought to be keen on the 19-year-old (Sky Sports News).
The reported interest from the two Premier League clubs could give the Saints the bidding war for which they were holding out, although the Merseysiders still appear to be in the box seat to secure the Belgium international.
Tavolieri took to Twitter late on Thursday night with an update on Lavia, stating: “Despite Chelsea (and now Joe Shields) last minute pressing that we anticipated already yesterday & that will be even more intensive in the coming hours due to Caicedo’s case (who remains the priority), Liverpool continued to advance on Romeo Lavia with Southampton today, still leaning towards Liverpool.
“The plan presented by LFC convinced the Belgian midfielder & his entourage. European football also a key. Human aspects & the sports project are fundamentals with Lavia’s family who are very conscious & reasonable people. A reversal of fortunes seems unlikely but this situation could well enable the Saints to obtain the £50m package they are looking for.”
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Liverpool won’t be the only club who’ll be pleased with how the Lavia situation is playing out, with Southampton also set to relish the challenge from Chelsea, as it could create competition which may facilitate the Saints to demand their £50m asking price (The Athletic).
That the player appears to prefer a move to Anfield should put the Reds in a commanding position to get it done from here, and Jurgen Klopp will also be happy to hear Tavolieri’s claim of the 19-year-old’s family being ‘reasonable’, as this’ll make negotiations and future dealings smoother.
In addition, it shows that even qualifying for the Europa League can give a club some all-important pulling power, with the Blues’ failure to obtain any European football for 2023/24 looking set to bite them in this instance.
Liverpool must still be wary of Chelsea potentially throwing money at Southampton to try and steal in for Lavia late in the day, having so often flexed their financial muscles during Todd Boehly’s reign in order to land their transfer targets.
That said, all the indications right now seem to point very much in the Reds’ favour, so hopefully they can now get it across the line from here.
You can see Tavolieri’s tweet below, via @sachatavolieri on Twitter:
🇧🇪 Despite #ChelseaFC (and now « famous » Joe Shields) last minute pressing that we anticipated already yesterday & that will be even more intensive in the coming hours due to Caicedo’s case (who remains the priority), #LiverpoolFC continued to advance on Romeo Lavia with… pic.twitter.com/ujslNANWXB
— Sacha Tavolieri (@sachatavolieri) July 27, 2023
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