Chelsea are edging closer to a deal to sign Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia in the summer transfer window, according to a report.
The 19-year-old has been a shining light in a troubled season for the Premier League's basement side since leaving Manchester City in an £11m move during the most recent summer window.
A hamstring problem forced Lavia to miss a couple of months of action between September and October, but he has quickly established a regular starting role with one goal and one assist in 29 matches across all tournaments.
Lavia has featured from the first whistle in 20 Premier League matches during the current campaign, including an eye-catching 86-minute cameo in Friday's 3-3 draw with league leaders Arsenal.
Despite the Belgium international's breakthrough, Southampton remain cut adrift at the foot of the Premier League table and are four points adrift of safety with six games left to play.
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Regardless of whether Southampton suffer relegation to the Championship, the Saints are not expected to retain the services of Lavia, in spite of the midfielder's long-running contract until 2027.
In fact, Southampton are reported to be open to offers for their midfield protege, who is understood to be admired by Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool and Manchester United.
However, Football Insider claims that Chelsea are now leading the race to sign Lavia for the 2023-24 season and are now "close" to securing his services in the summer window.
The Blues are understood to hold a long-running interest in the Belgian stretching back to last summer, and they have remained in contact with Lavia's representatives for some time.
Chelsea are now confident of their prospects of landing the midfielder when the window re-opens, but Southampton will still demand at least £45m to sanction a sale.
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Lavia made just two senior appearances for Man City before leaving the Etihad, and while the champions are understood to possess a buyback clause, it does not activate until 2024.
As a result, an intense scramble for Lavia's services will materialise this summer, as Chelsea prepare for a significant midfield reshuffle, having already allowed Jorginho to join Arsenal in January.
Conor Gallagher and Ruben Loftus-Cheek are both expected to seek pastures new in the coming months, while Mateo Kovacic is out of contract in 2024 and is facing an uncertain future too.
Chelsea are thought to be in positive talks over a renewal for N'Golo Kante, who could depart as a free agent this summer, but Barcelona are supposedly still hopeful of prising him away from Stamford Bridge.
The Blues added 18-year-old Andrey Santos to their midfield ranks in January and are also understood to be in pole position to sign Benfica wonderkid Diego Moreira, who is also wanted by AC Milan and Paris Saint-Germain.
