Romeo Lavia joins Chelsea for £58m: Decoding his stats
Chelsea have roped in Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia for £58m. The deal is worth an initial £53m plus £5m in add-ons. Lavia has signed a seven-year deal at Stamford Bridge. Lavia joins right after Chelsea signed Moises Caicedo. Liverpool were also interested in the youngster and even had a £60m deal accepted by Southampton but failed to convince the player.
Why does this story matter?
After Lavia's exceptional performances last season, the midfielder attracted interest from top Premier League clubs. With Southampton getting relegated, the 19-year-old wanted to move back to Premier League. Liverpool chased him for a long time but they weren't sure about his credentials. Hence, they also looked elsewhere. Ultimately, they came back but Chelsea once again hijacked the deal like they did for Caicedo.
A look at Lavia's career stats
Lavia started his footballing career at Anderlecht youth team before moving to Manchester City youth academy in 2020. He featured in 16 matches for City's Under-18 team, followed by four matches for their UEFA Under-19 team. The youngster played 39 times for City's Under-21 side, scoring twice. He played two matches for the City senior team. At Southampton, he featured in 34 matches.
Breaking down Lavia's numbers in 2022-23 Premier League
Lavia featured in 29 Premier League matches last season for Southampton. Although they got relegated, the youngster scored a goal and created 16 chances while completing 856 from 991 attempted passes. He had 86.38% passing accuracy. Lavia is very combative as he completed 30 take-ons, and made 60 tackles while winning 137 ground duels. He also amassed 23 clearances and 33 interceptions.
What does Lavia bring to Chelsea?
Mauricio Pochettino wants to add more depth in midfield having allowed N'Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Mason Mount, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek to leave the club. That leaves them with midfielders such as Enzo Fernandez, Conor Gallagher, Carney Chukwuemeka, and newly joined Caicedo. Lavia is likely to play alongside both Enzo and Caicedo. He is known for his ability to retrieve possession.
Maiden international call-up for Belgium
Lavia has represented Belgium at various age-group levels. He represented Belgium Under-19 10 times before earning his first international call-up for the Red Devils in March 2023 by manager Domenico Tedesco for the 2024 European Qualifying match against Sweden and a friendly against Germany.
