Romeo Lavia chooses Chelsea over Liverpool despite £60m bid – Liverpool FC

Despite Liverpool reaching an agreement with Southampton for midfielder Romeo Lavia, the Belgian has now opted to join Chelsea instead.

It has now happened twice in less than 24 hours, with a priority midfield target spurning Liverpool for Chelsea.

After a £115 million deal was struck between Chelsea and Brighton for Moises Caicedo on Sunday night, the Reds turned their focus back to Lavia.

Monday morning brought news of a £60 million package agreed with Southampton, though it was maintained that the 19-year-old preferred a switch to Stamford Bridge.

Now, The Athletic‘s David Ornstein reports that Lavia has decided to join Chelsea instead of Liverpool, following Caicedo to west London.

The transfer will be worth around £50 million plus add-ons, with “no issues” expected between the two clubs, who enjoy strong relations.

No announcement has been made as of yet, but in all likelihood Liverpool will need to move on to alternative targets once again.

This comes despite previous reports of personal terms being agreed with Lavia, with unsuccessful bids of £37 million, £41 million and £46 million then leading the Reds to briefly look elsewhere.

Now, having hoped to land Caicedo for a British record fee, Liverpool are left with neither of their leading targets for the No. 6 position.

It remains to be seen who Jurgen Klopp‘s side will target yet, with this uncertainty only feeding into the narrative of a lack of structure within the club’s recruitment setup.

Crystal Palace‘s Cheikh Doucoure, Aston Villa‘s Boubacar Kamara and Borussia Monchengladbach’s Manu Kone are among those linked in the past.