LONDON (AP) — Chelsea completed the signing of 19-year-old defensive midfielder Romeo Lavia from Southampton on Friday after agreeing to a reported transfer fee of 58 million pounds ($74 million).
The Belgium international signed a seven-year deal after reportedly rejecting a proposed move to Liverpool.
The spending spree at Stamford Bridge continues with Lavia arriving just days after Chelsea signed Ecuador midfielder Moises Caicedo from Brighton for a reported 115 million pounds ($146 million). Caicedo's signing took Chelsea's spending on players to $1 billion in 15 months under its new American owners.
The highly rated Lavia has played only 29 times in the Premier League.
“I'm really happy to join Chelsea and be a part of this exciting project,” Lavia said in Chelsea's announcement. “It’s an amazing football club with a great history and I’m really excited to get started. I can’t wait to meet all my new teammates and build a chemistry together to achieve great things together.”
Lavia played in the youth system at Anderlecht before moving to Manchester City in 2020. He transferred to Southampton last year in search of more playing time.
Before a match against Saints in April, City manager Pep Guardiola acknowledged the Premier League champions nearly kept him in Manchester: “We had, and we have, an incredible opinion about him. We thought to keep him, but maybe he would not (get) enough minutes like he has in Southampton.”
City will collect a portion of the transfer fee because of a sell-on clause.
Lavia made 34 appearances overall last season for Southampton, which was relegated after a last-place finish. He made his Belgium debut in a friendly against Germany in March.
Chelsea visits West Ham on Sunday after a season-opening 1-1 draw with Liverpool.
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