Since being taken over by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, Chelsea have done a lot of their shopping in England.
For example, in the last transfer window, Chelsea signed Joao Pedro and Liam Delap from Brighton & Hove Albion and Ipswich Town respectively.
In 2023, they also bought Manchester City’s Cole Palmer and Southampton’s Romeo Lavia.
Palmer has been a goal machine at Chelsea; Lavia, not so much. In fact, the midfielder has only scored one goal in the Premier League.
Romeo Lavia’s one and only senior goal came against Chelsea
Ironically, Lavia’s first and only goal in the English top flight came against Chelsea in the 2022/23 season, with the 21-year-old helping Southampton to beat the Blues 2-1.
Roughly a year later, Chelsea went on to sign Lavia in a £58m deal, but it was not just because of that game. They were already fans of the player.
In the 2022 summer transfer window, Chelsea tried to bring Lavia to Stamford Bridge despite the fact that he had just joined Southampton.
According to the reliable Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea made an unsuccessful £50m bid for Lavia on deadline day.
In the end, they eventually got their man, though they had to see off competition from rivals Liverpool, who were also keen on the player.
Chelsea players and Joe Shields with Club World Cup
Photo by Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC via Getty Images
How Chelsea were able to convince Romeo Lavia to join them instead of Liverpool
The 2023 summer transfer window is one Chelsea supporters will never forget. They watched their club beat Liverpool to the signatures of Lavia and Moises Caicedo.
Mauricio Pochettino was not the most popular figure at Stamford Bridge during his time there, but Chelsea fans need to thank the Argentine for helping the club secure Lavia.
When Lavia spoke about why he decided to join Chelsea after his move to west London, he said: “When I spoke to him [Pochettino], he was pretty clear on what he wanted, and the direction he wanted the team to go in. I was really pleased to hear what he wanted, and his energy was something that matched with mine.”
Unfortunately, the Belgium international has missed a lot of games because of injuries, contributing to his very underwhelming goal record. But he is fit again and making an impact, helping Chelsea to beat Liverpool before the international break.