Chelsea make offer for Liverpool target

The new Premier League season gets underway on Friday as reigning champions Manchester City travel to face Burnley. 

Pep Guardiola’s side will be hoping to win a fourth consecutive league title, but the likes of Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United will be looking to challenge the Citizens.

On Sunday, Liverpool travel to London to face Chelsea in arguably the pick of the matches in the first round of fixtures.

Now, though, it appears that the two sides could be set to battle it out of the pitch in the coming days.

According to Fabrizio Romano, the Blues have made a £48 million offer for Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia, who has been a long-term target for Liverpool.

The Italian journalist claims that Chelsea have outbid the Reds, who recently had a £45 million offer for the midfielder rejected.

It is also claimed that talks between the two clubs are ongoing, although the transfer deadline at the end of August is fast approaching.

Lavia is a target for both Liverpool and Chelsea

Lavia, 19, joined the Saints from Manchester City last summer and impressed during his first season at St. Mary’s.

The Belgian made 34 appearances across all competitions and was praised for his performances, although he was unable to prevent Southampton from being relegated to the second tier.

Lavia was left out of the Southampton squad for their Championship opener against Sheffield Wednesday on Friday, and it appears almost certain that the Belgium under-21 international will leave the club this month.

Chelsea are in the market for midfield reinforcements after allowing a number of first team players to leave this summer.

N’Golo Kante, Mateo Kovacic, Ruben Loftus-Cheek and Mason Mount have all departed Stamford Bridge during the current transfer window, while Jorginho was sold to Arsenal in January.

That has left new manager Mauricio Pochettino relatively short of midfielders, with Conor Gallagher, Enzo Fernandez and Carney Chukwuemeka the Argentine’s only options at present.