Romeo Lavia decides to join Chelsea over Liverpool

It's gone from bad, to worse, to horrendous for Liverpool, as long-time transfer target Romeo Lavia has chosen Chelsea as his next club over the Reds.

News broke on Monday evening that highly-rated Southampton midfielder Lavia had snubbed Liverpool and decided to instead join Chelsea, with a deal of around £50m plus add-ons expected to seal his services.

First reported by The Athletic's David Ornstein, the relations between Chelsea and Southampton are said to be good and it is anticipated that there will be no issues regarding an agreement for the Belgian.

This comes as a crushing blow for Liverpool, and the second coup in a few days for Chelsea, with Moises Caicedo another midfield target who ultimately chose to sign for the Blues in a British world record deal, despite the Reds making a very late £111m push to sign the Ecuadorian.

Early Monday morning, there looked to be hope for Liverpool fans, with the club's most recent £60m bid reported to be accepted by Southampton, but there were always worries that the 19-year-old's preference was going to be the same as Caicedo's.

However, according to Paul Joyce of the Times, the club have denied that an agreement was struck with Southampton at £60m, and that there were indications from Lavia’s representatives that he wants to move to west London.

It is sad that Lavia ultimately choosing Chelsea could have been because he felt let down by the club's willingness to ditch him last week and go all in for Caicedo, but the decision could also simply be put down to personal terms, with Chelsea willing to offer the bigger salary.

Whether a bid was sent and accepted, or if the club are now trying to save face, remains to be seen, but with time running out for Liverpool and the squad in desperate need of reinforcements, fans are incredibly frustrated.