Southampton Close In On Permanent Deal For Manchester City Midfielder

Manchester City and Southampton are now close to completing a final agreement for the sale of Romeo Lavia from the City Football Academy, as per reports.

The ongoing summer transfer window has been one of significant change for the newly-crowned Premier League champions.

In the way of incomings, Manchester City have already secured the signings of Julian Alvarez from River Plate and Erling Haaland from Borussia Dortmund.

Elsewhere, Kalvin Phillips' move from Leeds United is edging closer to completion, while City are also pursuing a deal for Brighton & Hove Albion's Marc Cucurella.

However, there has also been a new-found focus on the futures and potential sales of City Football Academy prospects.

Following the sale of Gavin Bazunu to Southampton, and the imminent moves of CJ Egan-Riley and Taylor Harwood-Bellis to Burnley, Manchester City are now close to securing the future of another of their bright prospects.

That is midfielder Romeo Lavia - who is reportedly on the verge of following the path taken by the aforementioned Bazunu.

According to The Athletic, Southampton are now close to completing a permanent deal to sign the 18 year-old Belgium youth international.

This development comes after Leeds United were also credited with an interest in the player.

However, it is now claimed that Ralph Hasenhuttl's side have won the race to sign the highly-rated Manchester City starlet.

The deal is formatted as a permanent transfer, and according to talkSPORT, a package worth £10 million has been agreed.

It is further highlighted by The Athletic that Etihad Stadium officials will also have the option to buy back the player in the future.

The details of the buy-back options also remain unknown or undisclosed at this current stage.

Romeo Lavia joined Manchester City at the age of 16 in the summer of 2020, leaving RSC Anderlecht for the City Football Academy where he signed his first professional contract in the game.

Throughout the course of the 2021/22 season, Lavia largely trained with Pep Guardiola and the first-team set-up at Manchester City.

In September of 2021, Lavia made his full first-team debut for the club, in the third round of the Carabao Cup against Wycombe Wanderers at the Etihad Stadium.

Elsewhere, Manchester City will also look to sort out the futures of other academy talents this summer such as Liam Delap and James McAtee.