Manchester City’s Romeo Lavia will have a medical in the next 48 hours ahead of his transfer to Southampton.
The Belgian midfielder will be leaving the Blues in a £14 million move down south, as per MailOnline.
Lavia, who is just 18-years old, joined City’s academy in 2020 from Belgian side Anderlecht.
City manager Pep Guardiola gave the player two senior appearances last season, with Lavia earning minutes in both the Carabao Cup and FA Cup.
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It was suggested among the City faithful that he would be the natural heir to the defensive midfield spot, but this has been quashed with the news of a permanent transfer away from the Etihad Stadium.
Lavia’s opportunities were already minuscule due to the commanding performances of Spaniard Rodri, but have been cut even shorter with City’s latest recruit.
Officially confirmed on Monday, Kalvin Phillips has made the move to the Premier League champions from Leeds United.
Another defensive midfielder by trade, the Yorkshireman represents another obstacle to the first team for Lavia.
In the search for more regular game time and development, Southampton was selected as the Belgian’s new team and the deal should be finalised this week, following his medical.
It is reported by MailOnline that the medical will be done within the next 48 hours, meaning that the deal will likely be completed before the end of the week.
The defensive midfielder will become Saints manager Ralph Hasenhuttl’s fourth signing of the summer transfer window.
Lavia is not the first City academy graduate to make the move to Southampton either, with the Saints already securing the signature of goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu last month.
The pair will provide City with almost £30 million to help cover their own spending this summer.
Alongside the £42m acquisition of Phillips, the Manchester club have also signed Norwegian striker Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund for £51.2 million.
German goalkeeper Stefan Ortega has also signed for free following the expiration of his contract with Arminia Bielefeld.
Even with them additions, other players have been linked with a move to the Etihad.
Marc Cucurella from Brighton & Hove Albion is the major link at left-back, but Bayern Munich's Serge Gnabry was also briefly mentioned as potential Sterling replacement.
However, a report earlier in the week has rubbished them claims.
Topics: Manchester City, Romeo Lavia, Southampton, Premier League, Manchester City Transfer News & Rumours
Edward Burnett