Arsenal, Manchester United, and Chelsea will still feel like "they can win the signature of Lavia" as the race to land the Southampton midfielder is still "pretty open", claims transfer insider Dean Jones.
Arsenal transfer news – what's the latest on Romeo Lavia
The summer window has kicked off in some style in Islington as the Gunners have already confirmed the £65m purchase of Chelsea's Kai Havertz, and the deal to bring Declan Rice to the Emirates is also nearing completion.
Alongside these established names, the club has been linked to Southampton's exciting young prospect and full Belgian international, Romeo Lavia.
According to a report from the Independent, Arsenal first turned their attention towards the £45m player after concluding that any deal to bring in Brighton & Hove Albion's Moises Caicedo would be too difficult to achieve alongside their other targets.
However, the race has become a lot more complicated as Chelsea and Manchester United are said to be directly challenging the Gunners for his signature, with Liverpool 'monitoring' developments for now.
Where there is some doubt as to where Lavia would fit in at Arsenal, there is less about any potential move to the Red Devils.
At the moment, Erik ten Hag's choices in defensive midfield are the imperious Casemiro and the hard-working but under equipped Scott McTominay. If United could bring the 19-year-old to Old Trafford, he could make for the perfect understudy to the 30-year-old Brazilian, eventually stepping in to replace him a few seasons from now.
Chelsea on the other hand have just sold a huge portion of their midfield with N'Golo Kante moving to Saudi Arabia, Mateo Kovacic to Manchester City and the aforementioned Havertz to Arsenal deal, so a move for the Brussels-gem would make perfect sense, filling a current gap in the team and potentially staying with the club for the next decade.
What has transfer insider Dean Jones said about the race to sign Romeo Lavia?
Jones was confident that no club had the upper hand regarding the young Belgian at the moment and that all three teams will feel relatively good about their chances.
Speaking to Football FanCast, he said: "I honestly think it's pretty open race at the moment. I wouldn't say that Arsenal are placed any better than Chelsea any better than Man United. I think that all of those clubs will feel that they can still win the signature of Lavia."
Do Arsenal need to sign Romeo Lavia?
The sides in this transfer saga could clearly use Lavia both now and in the future, but what about Mikel Arteta's side?
Well, it's a little more complicated; as things stand, the club have Thomas Partey and Mohammed Elneny in that defensive midfield position and will soon add Rice, the club's most expensive transfer ever.
From that, it looks hard to see where the "monster" – as dubbed by football writer Benjy Nurick – would fit into Arteta's immediate plans.
However, if the recent report from the Telegraph claiming that the club will cash in on Ghanaian international Partey is true, there could well be a way into the team for the ex-Manchester City wonderkid.
However, with Rice likely to take Partey's place as the clubs go to defensive midfielder anyway, Lavia would still be firmly behind a player only five years his senior.
While he would certainly be a fantastic rotation option, the player might view himself as something other than just a backup.
Whoever ends up landing the Southampton starlet will have an unbelievable prospect on their books, but it looks like some teams need his services more than others.
