Official: Chelsea sign sixth player of African descent this summer 

Through their official website, Chelsea have announced the signing of Belgian midfielder Romeo Lavia from Southampton.

​The Blues fought off competition from Liverpool to acquire the signature of the talented midfielder.

​The 19-year-old has signed a seven-year deal and is expected to compete with French-Nigerian midfielder Lesley Ugochukwu and Moises Caicedo for the defensive midfield position.

He is the sixth player of African descent acquired by Chelsea this summer, after Christopher Nkunku, Nicolas Jackson, Diego Moreira, Lesley Ugochukwu and Axel Disasi.

 Lavia started his career with Jupiler Pro League side Anderlecht and spent eight years with the club before joining Manchester City at the age of 16.
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He joined the Citizens in 2020 and began his career with the U18s but after 11 games with the side, was promoted to the development team.
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He helped Manchester City U21s win the Premier League 2 in 2021 and was voted Player of the Season.
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​He left the Etihad Stadium in 2022 for Southampton where he was able to secure a place in the Saints' first-team starting XI.
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The Belgian International made 34 appearances in all competitions for Southampton and was voted as the club's Player of the Season.
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​Lavia has now joined Chelsea after a year with the Saints and has expressed his happiness in joining the two-time European champions

'I'm really happy to join Chelsea and be a part of this exciting project. It's an amazing football club with a great history and I'm really excited to get started.

"I can't wait to meet all my new team-mates and build a chemistry together to achieve great things together,"he told the club's official website

Abdulkareem Abdulhamid

Photo Credit: chelseafc.com