Romeo Lavia made Liverpool transfer mistake by joining Chelsea, says ex-teammate

Romeo Lavia has stood by his decision to turn down Liverpool for Chelsea , despite criticism from a former teammate who believes he made the wrong decision.

The Belgian starlet made the switch from Southampton to Stamford Bridge last August. Liverpool had an offer accepted by the Saints for Lavia , now 20, but he decided to join Chelsea instead and made just one appearance last season due to injury issues.

Now fit again, he is eager to makeup for lost time in the capital as the new season quickly approaches. Lavia has also defended choosing Chelsea over Liverpool.

"Listen, when I heard about Chelsea and it was from a long time ago before everything started, it was a no-brainer," he recently told The Athletic . "Some stuff I was reading, I’m not going to say it was fake but my decision was Chelsea. The interest from Liverpool was there but, in my head, I wanted to play for Chelsea."

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He continued: "If you look at the teams, Chelsea is the one that is growing. Even though the results are not going like the other teams, you can see the bigger picture. When I saw a group of young and talented players that at their previous clubs had been the best players, it can only go well. Now I’m here, I realize it’s true."

Yet, it appears there might be a hint of regret for Theo Walcott, according to Lavia's perspective, as he suggested that Liverpool would have been the "perfect club" for his former Southampton team-mate. "He’s a very talented footballer, very talented,” Walcott told BBC Radio 5 Live. "I saw him week in, week out - he trained his heart out, probably trained too much and then obviously got that serious injury.

“There was talk of him going to Chelsea and Liverpool, and I thought, as a player, Liverpool would be the perfect club right now. Their midfield at the time was rebuilding and it was a new structure. Players can make their choice, of course.

"His career’s stagnated a bit but he’s had a really good pre-season (at Chelsea) and I hope he plays. I always like to keep an eye on players I played with and I want them to do well, particularly players that are good lads, work hard and want to learn.

"But I just felt Liverpool was the perfect club for him at that time in his career if he was going to move on (from Southampton). I’m worried that he will be one of those Chelsea players that will just move on and you won’t hear much of him.

"The amount of players Chelsea are signing, there are good players who just won’t get a chance. They just won’t be seen or sent on loan to lower league clubs."