---
title: "Chelsea: Blues ‘talking’ about Romeo Lavia swoop"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/chelsea-romeo-lavia-transfer-rumours/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Dominic Lund"
section: "Chelsea News"
published: "2022-12-27T21:40:29Z"
modified: "2022-12-27T21:40:29Z"
---

# Chelsea: Blues ‘talking’ about Romeo Lavia swoop

**[Chelsea](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/chelsea-fc-transfer-rumours/) are ‘talking’ about a possible move for Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia in January, according to journalist Simon Phillips.**

### The Lowdown: Chelsea’s Lavia interest

[The Athletic](https://theathletic.com/3563552/2022/09/03/southampton-chelsea-romeo-lavia/) reported that the Blues had a £50m deadline day offer for Lavia turned down earlier this season, with the Saints keen on retaining him for the duration of the 2022/23 campaign. Ironically, that came just days after he [scored against Chelsea](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/62641729) in a 2-1 Southampton win in one of Thomas Tuchel’s final games at the helm.

The 18-year-old has made [seven](https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/romeo-lavia/leistungsdaten/spieler/628451) appearances in the [Premier League](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/premier-league-news/) this term and he has clearly impressed the Blues, who are now believed to be considering a move for him once again…

### The Latest: Phillips’ comments

Speaking to [GIVEMESPORT](https://www.givemesport.com/88098130-chelsea-transfer-update-discussing-move-special-stamford-bridge), Phillips detailed that Chelsea are eager to sign a midfielder in the January transfer window, with the Belgian youngster being discussed as a potential option.

The journalist outlined: *“They want a new midfielder in January. They’ve looked at a host of different names. Romeo Lavia is one that they’re currently talking about signing.”*

\[freshpress-quiz id=”410621″\]

### The Verdict: Worth it?

Lavia is clearly held in very high esteem by Southampton if they were willing to reject a £50m bid for him, so it appears as though only an offer which is even higher than that valuation is likely to sway them into a January sale.

While he did not bring the teenager to St Mary’s, current Saints manager Nathan Jones has clearly been impressed by the starlet, describing him as a ‘[special talent](https://twitter.com/J_Tanswell/status/1605329451411451904?s=20&t=qaWYy8-4Ek0LaLpLFSORBQ)‘, which is indicated by some of his performances over the past year.

The midfielder has displayed remarkable defensive acumen, averaging [2.59](https://fbref.com/en/players/ecad9aa5/Romeo-Lavia) blocks and [1.94](https://fbref.com/en/players/ecad9aa5/Romeo-Lavia) interceptions per 90. Those figures place him in the 99th and 95th percentiles respectively compared to his positional peers in Europe’s top five leagues.

It is very much a surprise that Manchester City let him leave for just [£12m](https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/transfer-news/man-city-lavia-debruyne-southampton-24726634) this summer, given that his average pass completion rate of [88.3%](https://fbref.com/en/players/ecad9aa5/Romeo-Lavia) would make him well-suited to Pep Guardiola’s [possession-based](https://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj5laOklZr8AhWimFwKHWeYALIQFnoECCsQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.goal.com%2Fen%2Fnews%2Ftactics-triangles-tika-taka-train-pep-guardiola%2Fblte5a49a426df9b105&usg=AOvVaw3seIFt2w9Odnta1vEkfr4W) system.

However, their loss could yet be [Graham Potter](https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/tag/graham-potter/)‘s gain, as Lavia would appear to be a phenomenal propsective acquisition for Chelsea, despite the amount of money that he would likely set them back in order to sign him.