Why everyone wants Romeo Lavia

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Romeo Lavia has been one of the standout talents of the 2022/23 season, seamlessly transitioning to the demands of being a regular first team player in his first full Premier League season.

The 19-year-old has been arguably Southampton’s best player this campaign despite the Saints terrible performances over 38 games.

Lavia joined Manchester City as a 16-year-old, playing for the u18s where he stood out.  After just 11 appearances he was promoted to the u23s, a sign of his phenomenal talent, playing with players almost seven years older than him.

In that same season Manchester City won the Premier League 2 Championship – the u23 Premier League – with Lavia being voted the player of the season at just 17 years old.

In 2021 he was promoted to the first team and was selected for City’s 2021/22 Champions League squad.  He made his first team debut at 17 in September of 2021 in the EFL Cup against Wycombe Wanderers.

In July of 2022, the Belgian made the decision to pursue regular first team football, considering he was at best the third-choice option in his preferred defensive midfield role behind starter Rodri and newly signed backup Kalvin Phillips.

Lavia signed a five-year contract at Southampton, whose model of giving young talent regular first team football matched perfectly with the midfielder’s ambitions.  Their track record of success including Tino Livramento, Che Adams, Armando Broja and Kyle Walker-Peters proved that at Southampton, talent came before age.  If you had the ability you were trusted, few other premier league teams were capable of providing similar conditions while simultaneously being an established premier league side.

Lavia is a defensive midfielder that excels in possession with the player admitting he bases his game off arguably the greatest defensive midfielder of this century Sergio Busquets.  His composure in the build-up and ability to make line-breaking deep passes are two of the traits that is making the young Belgian so sought after by the top Premier League sides, with players of his profile and age incredibly rare.

Manchester City have a buy-back option that activates in 2024, but with Southampton already relegated, Lavia is guaranteed to leave the Saints at the end of the season.  A return to City cannot be ruled out but he will run into similar problems with Rodri and Kalvin-Phillips still ahead in the ranks.

Liverpool are rumoured to be heavily interested in the Belgian as they look for a long-term replacement for Fabinho.  Liverpool can offer regular first team football as well as a system that would heavily suit Lavia’s intense and aggressive style of play in combination with his passing ability.

Chelsea had a 50-million-pound bid rejected in January as Southampton were unwilling to let arguably their best midfielder leave during a relegation battle.  Lavia would be the perfect partner for Enzo Fernandez with his defensive attributes allowing Fernandez to operate in a better suited role higher up the pitch.

At just 19 years old, Romeo Lavia is undoubtedly one of the best midfield prospects in the world, he has consistently improved at every step he has taken and shown the biggest clubs in Europe he is more than capable of excelling in the toughest of situations.  Southampton are said to want more than 50 million pounds but realistically, their relegation to the championship and Lavia’s desire for Premier League football has considerably weakened their hand.

Photo: Twitter @AnfieldEdition

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Dylan Johnson