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Both Chelsea and Arsenal are competing to sign Southampton star Roméo Lavia.
The Belgian international only joined the Saints from Manchester City last summer, after struggling for first-team minutes at the Etihad, but the defensive midfielder has made a big impression in his first season with the South Coast club, drawing comparisons with the likes of Sergio Busquets.
Although Arsenal have been tracking him for some time, Chelsea hold a prior interest, having tried to sign him last summer, just weeks after he opted to leave City.
The West London club have an innate advantage in that Joe Shields, who is now at the club, previously worked with the player when they were both at City together.
There have also been suggestions that City, realising that they may have made a mistake by letting him go in the first place, may also be interested in re-signing him when the transfer window opens again.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.