Romeo Lavia has spoken out for the first time over why he decided to snub a move to Liverpool in favour of a move to Chelsea. The decision was one of the biggest stories of the 2023 summer transfer window, but the midfielder has decided to address all the speculation over his decision in an interview with the Athletic.
Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp’s interest in the Belgian was well known at the time as they sought to rebuild their engine room for the new campaign. Lavia had caught the eye in a breakout season at Southampton and the Reds targeted him for a move that summer.
However, after having multiple bids rejected for the Manchester City academy graduate, Liverpool aimed to beat Chelsea to the signing of Moises Caicedo, only for the Ecuadorian to elect to sign for the west Londoners. And in a stunning turn of events, the Blues then stole the march on the Merseyside club by beating them to Lavia as well.
Asked about why he ultimately decided to move to London instead of Liverpool, Lavia said that it was only right that he addressed the speculation after several reports. He revealed that Chelsea had held a long-standing interest in him, so when they came knocking, he said the decision was a “no-brainer”.
“You’ve never had my version. It’s all about what you read in the media. I had to read a couple as well and sometimes you knew more than me apparently.
“Listen, when I heard about Chelsea and it was from a long time ago before everything started, it was a no-brainer. Some stuff I was reading, I’m not going to say it was fake but my decision was Chelsea.
“The interest from Liverpool was there but, in my head, I wanted to play for Chelsea.”
Expanding on why he was so desperate to move to Stamford Bridge, Lavia said that he is confident that Chelsea are building something impressive and that everyone at the club is confident that they will achieve their goal. He explained that seeing a talented young group of players come together gave him the belief that it was a project worth joining.
“If you look at the teams, Chelsea is the one that is growing. Even though the results are not going like the other teams, you can see the bigger picture. When I saw a group of young and talented players that at their previous clubs had been the best players, it can only go well. Now I’m here, I realise it’s true.
“We are building something amazing. Everyone at the club can feel it, not just the players. Manchester City and all the teams that have been successful, they needed years to do that. I’m not saying we need the same years but it is not going to take two weeks. The confidence is there and then it’s about not looking at the other teams, but focusing on ourselves.”
It wasn’t the first year that Lavia might have hoped for in west London, though. Having arrived with an injury problem, he spent most of the season recovering from multiple injuries that saw him restricted to just one appearance and was named as the club’s worst signing of the 2023/24 season.
Elaborating on his struggles, Lavia revealed that he had sought the help of fellow Belgian and Chelsea legend Eden Hazard. The now-retired winger went through a similar predicament after joining Real Madrid, with the youngster hailing him as a ‘big brother’.
“It’s the same for a lot of experienced players I speak to, asking them if they have been in the same situation and how they have dealt with it.”
Lavia will be hoping that the worst of his injury troubles are now behind him. Chelsea fans got a real taste of what he could bring to the team in pre-season and will be hoping that he is fit to play some role when Stamford Bridge hosts Manchester City on Sunday 18th August.
