Rewind to August 2023 and there was a frisson of excitement around Chelsea at their signing of one of the most promising young midfielders in English football.
The arrival of Romeo Lavia, 19 at the time, was a real coup but also one which had required a significant outlay. £58million was spent in order to prise him away from Southampton, where he had developed a reputation as one of the Premier League’s most hard-working and talented teenagers.
