You won't believe the ridiculous bid that Chelsea made on Deadline Day

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Chelsea tried to fix their midfield woes in the final throes of Deadline Day with an offer that could make Blues fans laugh or cry

Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel holds his head during the Blues' 3-0 loss to Leeds.
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Chelsea made a number of shock moves over the summer in a huge transfer window. Perhaps that was expected considering that it was Todd Boehly's first as owner. 

It was the summer of opportunity for the Blues, pouncing on Marc Cucurella when the full-back was close to a Manchester City move, raiding City in turn for the unwanted Raheem Sterling and bringing in Aston Villa contract rebel Carney Chukwuemeka for £15 million. 

But in the dying hours of the transfer window, perhaps they could have made the most head-turning decision of the whole summer. 

Chelsea owner Todd Boehly

Chelsea owner Todd Boehly had quite the summer bringing in new faces (Image credit: Getty)

According to renowned transfer guru, Fabrizio Romano, the west London outfit moved for Southampton midfielder Romeo Lavia on Deadline Day.

"Chelsea wanted to sign Romeo Lavia on Deadline Day with £50m verbal proposal rejected by Southampton," the Italian tweeted. "Of course, he’s untouchable."

The deal would have been astounding for a number of reasons – not least because Lavia only signed for Southampton this summer for £12m. The Belgian is still just 18 years old, too – and has only played five times in the Premier League. 

But fascinatingly, the discussions for Lavia only happened after the Belgian netted against the Blues, as the Saints won 2-1 at St. Mary's. 

Romeo Lavia of Southampton scores their team's first goal during the Premier League match between Southampton FC and Chelsea FC at Friends Provident St. Mary's Stadium on August 30, 2022 in Southampton, England.

What's the opposite of "Can't beat them, join them"? (Image credit: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

Fans have had opposing views on the idea of the deal on social media. 

"As good as he is Southampton should’ve accepted this," one fan replied, while another remarked that a Director of Football at Stamford Bridge could "not come soon enough".

It remains to be seen quite how serious the discussion over Lavia was…

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Thomas Tuchel is in a tough mood following a disappointing start to the season. Chelsea lost to Southampton and the German was bullish about making transfer moves to strengthen. 

The Blues apparently wanted two new forwards. Callum Hudson-Odoi left for Leverkusen on loan, while Crystal Palace lynchpin Wilf Zaha and AC Milan star Rafael Leao were touted for spectacular moves. The Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang deal was eventually tied up.

Elsewhere, one shock swoop for Harry Maguire was rumoured. 

Mark White
Mark White
Content Editor

Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.