Soccer

Arsenal target Southampton’s Roméo Lavia as Arteta seeks to strengthen his midfield

London club pull out of race to sign Brighton’s Moisés Caicedo in bid to secure their main target, West Ham captain Declan Rice

Romeo Lavia is likely to leave Southampton after their relegation from the Premier League and is valued at £45 million. Photograph: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
Romeo Lavia is likely to leave Southampton after their relegation from the Premier League and is valued at £45 million. Photograph: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images
Jacob Steinberg
Fri Jun 16 2023 - 18:52

Arsenal are targeting the Southampton midfielder Roméo Lavia after deciding to leave the path clear for Chelsea to push forward with a move for Brighton’s Moisés Caicedo.

Mikel Arteta wants to sign two midfielders and his first priority is a deal for West Ham captain Declan Rice. West Ham are holding out for at least £100 million (€117 million), having rejected Arsenal’s opening offer of £80 million (€94 million) plus add-ons, and that transfer would take a hefty chunk out of Arteta’s budget.

Arsenal will need to make the 24-year-old their record signing and doing so is expected to stop them from entering the running for Caicedo. Brighton rejected Arsenal’s £70 million (€82 million) bid for Caicedo in January and want close to £100 million (€117 million). Chelsea had an inquiry rebuffed in January and are leading the race but talks with Brighton are moving slowly.

Brighton’s high valuation could lead Chelsea to look at alternative targets. They plan to rival Barcelona and Liverpool for the Celta Vigo midfielder Gabri Veiga, whose contract contains a £34 million (€40 million) release clause. Sources have indicated that Chelsea could make an offer for the 21-year-old Spaniard soon. Chelsea are also pushing for a striker and are making progress in pursuit of Villarreal’s Nicolas Jackson. It is understood they could bid for the 21-year-old Senegal striker next week.

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Arteta has switched focus to other players and talks have been held over moving for Lavia. The 19-year-old is likely to leave Southampton after their relegation from the Premier League and is valued at £45 million (€53 million).

Chelsea have registered interest in the Belgian, who has also been watched by Manchester United and Liverpool, but there is growing belief he will end up at Arsenal. It remains to be seen whether Southampton will hold firm on their asking price, with Arsenal likely to push for a lower fee.

Lavia impressed after leaving Manchester City for £10.5 million (€12.3 million) last summer. City inserted a buyback clause but it is believed they are unlikely to exercise it.

Arsenal are expected to make space in midfield by allowing Granit Xhaka to join Bayer Leverkusen. Arteta is planning a revamp in that area of the pitch to mount another title challenge. Thomas Partey’s dip in form was one of the reasons for Arsenal being overtaken by City and finishing second last season, while Albert Sambi Lokonga has struggled to assert himself and was loaned to Crystal Palace in January.

The shortage of physicality in Arteta’s midfield was best summed up by the way they lost 2-0 leads against West Ham and Liverpool in April. Signing Rice and Lavia would go a long way towards solving that problem. Arsenal are also strong contenders to sign the Chelsea forward Kai Havertz.

Chelsea’s focus is on lightening their bloated squad but they are also pushing to bring in a midfield partner for Enzo Fernández. Mateo Kovacic is close to joining Manchester City, United want Mason Mount, Milan have targeted Ruben Loftus-Cheek and N’Golo Kanté is set to sign for Al-Ittihad on a free.

Caicedo is one of several midfield targets for Chelsea, who have made checks on Everton’s Amadou Onana. Chelsea encountered frustration when Paris Saint-Germain beat them to the signing of Manuel Ugarte from Sporting Lisbon.

It is understood Caicedo wants to move to Chelsea but the club expect Brighton to make negotiations tough. Chelsea have been made aware it would smooth negotiations if they included their 20-year-old centre-back Levi Colwill as part of a deal. Colwill spent last season on loan at Brighton, who have had a bid rejected for him this summer, but Mauricio Pochettino is determined not to sell. Chelsea could offer other players in exchange, including the England midfielder Conor Gallagher. – Guardian