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Chelsea are reportedly stepping up their efforts in the pursuit of Southampton's young midfield sensation Romeo Lavia, with Arsenal also interested.
Both clubs are keen to add to their midfield depth. At just 19 years old, Lavia could prove to be an ideal investment as he would maintain a high resale value after a couple of years if things don't work out.
Chelsea pipped Arsenal to the signing of highly rated Ukrainian winger Mykhaylo Mudryk in January as the Blues coughed up close to £100 million to sign him from Shakhtar Donetsk. The two London clubs also locked horns to sign Moises Caicedo from Brighton & Hove Albion but the player decided to stay at his current club.
Reports from the Daily Mail earlier this month revealed that Arsenal are keen to explore the option of bringing Romeo Lavia to the Emirates Stadium. Now, reports from TalkSPORT (via The Boot Room) suggest that Chelsea have also entered the race to sign the young Belgian. With Southampton possibly facing relegation, they could be forced to cash in on one of their most promising players.
Arsenal and Chelsea have strangely been linked with the same players of late and another notable name on the list is West Ham United's Declan Rice, who was formerly an academy player with the Blues. However, the Gunners seem to be leading the race with Rice keen to play under Mikel Arteta.
In the wake of those developments, Chelsea have turned their attention elsewhere and are keen on signing Romeo Lavia, who has been a shining light for the Saints this season. While Pep Guardiola's team has a buy-back clause of £40 million, Blues owner Todd Boehly will look to test the waters by matching that amount or going above.
Arsenal and Chelsea are at different stages of their rebuild
When Mikel Arteta joined Arsenal back in December 2019, Chelsea were comfortably in the race to secure a top-four finish and Champions League football the following season.
They had a strong squad, having won the Premier League two years prior to that. Just a year later, they lifted the Champions League trophy for the second time in their history under Thomas Tuchel.
Arsenal, on the other hand, endured two difficult seasons under Arteta, finishing eighth in the league twice in a row. Despite winning the FA Cup in his first season, the Spaniard has faced several lows in his tenure in north London so far.
However, the Blues have now returned to square one in their rebuild following Tuchel's sacking. The Gunners, on the other hand, are flying high as they seem to have built a young and talented squad who are currently first in the Premier League table.
