Southampton have signed midfielder Roméo Lavia from Manchester City in a £10.5m transfer deal.
Lavia began his career within Anderlecht’s youth academy before he signed for Man City in summer 2020, where he quickly progressed from Under-18 to U23 level.
Last season saw the Belgian midfielder train with the first-team squad and made his senior debut in their comeback Third Round victory against Wycombe Wanderers in the Carabao Cup.
Lavia went on to make a substitute appearance in City’s Third Round victory at Swindon Town in the Third Round of the FA Cup, which ultimately proved to be his final first-team appearance for the Sky Blues.
Speaking about his decision to switch to Southampton on a five-year contract until June 2027, Lavia said: “I’m really delighted to join this club. I think this club has a really good culture with young players, so I’m really happy to be here.
“When I heard of the interest of Southampton I was buzzing because there’s an opportunity for young players to develop as much as possible and I’m very excited.”
Manager, Ralph Hasenhuttl added that he believes that Lavia “… is an extremely talented young player at the start of his career who is open-minded and wants to learn and develop his game with us.”
The Saints fought off competition from various clubs to sign the Belgium U21 international with Hasenhuttl stating this coup demonstrates the club’s “positive reputation for improving young players, which we have worked hard to build up over the years.”
Hasenhuttl though iterated that despite arriving from a top team led by the “best manager” in Pep Guardiola, Lavia won’t walk into the first-team as he added: “Now it is up to him to show us why he deserves to play in the Premier League, as we hope to help take his game to the next level.”
Lavia will now join up with Southampton for pre-season fixtures against SK Austria Klagenfurt, Watford and Villarreal, before potentially making his competitive debut away at Tottenham on 6 August.