The race for Southampton’s Romeo Lavia is starting to heat up following Liverpool’s rejected bid for the midfielder as Chelsea are believed to still be in the hunt for the Saints star.
The Reds have been the club linked to the youngster for most of the summer and on Tuesday, the Merseyside club saw a £37m offer for the 19-year-old rejected by Southampton as the Championship club holds out for £50m, reports The Athletic.
Football Insider report that have set that asking price due to the fact they will owe Man City 20 per cent of any sale.
The report also states that Chelsea have done a lot of work behind the scenes on a deal for Lavia and have not given up hope of beating Liverpool to his signature.
Chelsea are said to be waiting to see what happens with Brighton’s Moises Caicedo before progressing with a move for Lavia. The Blues are slowly making progress on a deal for the Seagulls star but the £100m asking price for the midfielder seems to be a problem.
Mauricio Pochettino is in desperate need of another central midfielder and would ideally like to get a deal done soon as that player can be ready in time for the beginning of the season.
It remains to be seen if it will be Lavia as Liverpool are in the lead for his signature and will rerun with a second offer in the near future.