Former Premier League defender Michael Dawson thinks Liverpool are hurting after losing out on Romeo Lavia to Chelsea.
The Blues were the club who won the race for Romeo Lavia in the end, confirming his signing on Friday.
Speaking about Chelsea’s capture of the midfielder on Sky Sports, Dawson said: “The Lavia one, I just feel it came from nowhere and Liverpool must be hurting. Chelsea have just gone, ‘Here you go. We’ll pay.’ “
According to BBC Sport, Chelsea bought Lavia from Southampton for an initial £53m fee.
They are now set to have a very different-looking midfield, having also signed Moises Caicedo from Brighton & Hove Albion.
Liverpool only have themselves to blame
There probably will not be too many people feeling sorry for Liverpool, especially Chelsea supporters.
The Reds had a chance to sign Lavia while their Premier League rivals pursued Caicedo but spent too much time messing around.
The Athletic claims that Liverpool made three unsuccessful bids for the 19-year-old before Chelsea swooped in. After their first two offers were rejected, it became quite clear that Southampton were only going to sell the player once their valuation was met, so that third proposal should have done just that.
Liverpool’s loss will now be Chelsea’s gain, with Mauricio Pochettino needing Lavia and Caicedo after the midfield exodus that took place at Stamford Bridge.
As for Jurgen Klopp, he quickly got over the Lavia fiasco by bringing in Wataru Endo from Stuttgart to strengthen his own engine room.
It all makes for an exciting storyline for when Chelsea and Liverpool next take on each other, which may not be for a while after their 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on the Premier League’s opening weekend.
Whatever the case, you would now expect Lavia, Caicedo and Endo all to be constantly scrutinised and compared to each other after everything that has happened during this transfer window.
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