That’s according to Fabrizio Romano in the latest edition of his exclusive CaughtOffside column, with the reporter explaining that Liverpool never quite reached an agreement with Southampton over Lavia as they knew Chelsea were his preferred destination.
Liverpool will now look for alternatives in the middle of the park, according to Romano, with the Reds still keeping tabs on both Kone and Thuram after links with the pair earlier in the summer.
Thuram has impressed in Ligue 1 with Nice, while Kone has made a name for himself in Germany with Borussia Monchengladbach, though recently had a spell out with an injury.
LFC would surely do well to bring in at least one of these players, with Romano expecting them to make one more signing in that area of the pitch this summer.
Despite already strengthening with two midfield signings in the form of Alexis Mac Allister and Dominik Szoboszlai, it’s clear that Jurgen Klopp could do with more in that area after the departures of Jordan Henderson, Fabinho, James Milner, Naby Keita and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
“Lavia has communicated in a very clear way to all parties involved – Chelsea, his agents, Southampton – that he wants to join Chelsea,” Romano said.
“The decision has been made, and so Chelsea and Southampton have been in contact during the night. The Blues want to make the deal happen this week, and today will be an important day.”
He added: “Liverpool spent two weeks negotiating with Southampton, they had the green light of the player, but for Lavia it was only a possibility, it’s not like he was saying he only wanted Liverpool.
“Then when Chelsea entered the race they had a crucial figure in Joe Shields – he is one of the directors at Chelsea, and he almost created Lavia as a player because he was a director at Manchester City’s academy, and then a director at Southampton when he signed Lavia for them. Now Shields is at Chelsea and he is signing Lavia again, making a huge difference in this story.
“Liverpool will now move on to different targets. They keep following both Khephren Thuram and Manu Kone as they did earlier in the summer, but let’s see who they will ‘attack’ now. Of course they will try to limit leaks as it created an issue with the Caicedo deal and same with Lavia. It’s an open race for Liverpool in midfield, but for sure they will sign at least one new player in that position.
“It’s worth saying that, as of tonight, I’m not aware of Liverpool bids for Tyler Adams – there is a clause, so it can be activated any moment. Bournemouth have activated the clause, they feel the player is keen on moving there, and so I see them as favourites to sign the Leeds midfielder.”
