The Blues are moving for the 19-year-old and a £50m deal would take their spending on midfielders this week alone up to £165m after the British record £115m capture of Moises Caicedo.
Liverpool also had an offer accepted but, like Caicedo, Lavia has opted for a move to Stamford Bridge instead.
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Joe Shields, Chelsea’s co-director of football and talent recruitment, is thought to have played a key role in convincing the Belgian international to reject the Reds. Shields was instrumental in luring Lavia to the south coast last summer, having worked with him at Manchester City.
Chelsea, who also bid for Lavia last summer just weeks after his move to St Mary’s, are hopeful of having the teenager in their squad in time for Sunday’s trip to West Ham.
“I think you know, it’s well known that we’ve had some significant interest in Romeo, we’ve had an offer which we accepted from Liverpool.” Wilcox told BBC Solent Fans’ Forum event on Tuesday.
“Then Chelsea came to the table. So we’re currently in negotiation with Chelsea now so it’s a real tricky period for Romeo. But I’m confident that something will get done in the next week or so or in the next few days.”
