Southampton should ‘hike the price up’ for midfielder Romeo Lavia, who has attracted interest from Chelsea, according to journalist Dean Jones. The 18-year-old has made an impressive start to his Saints career despite only being at the club for a few months and is already catching the eye of Graham Potter’s charges.
Southampton paid Manchester City £12 million to secure Lavia’s signature, although the fee could rise to £15m with potential add-ons, and the reigning Premier League champions included a £40m buy-back clause into the deal.
However, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano revealed in the aftermath of the summer transfer window that Chelsea ‘wanted to sign’ the Belgium Under-21 international on deadline day despite him only arriving at St, Mary’s in July.
It’s claimed that the west London outfit had a £50m ‘verbal proposal’ rejected by Southampton who considered Lavia ‘untouchable’.