Chelsea have agreed a £58m deal with Southampton for midfielder Romeo Lavia.
The deal is worth an initial £53m plus £5m in add-ons and Lavia has been given permission to undergo a medical at Chelsea.
Personal terms between Chelsea and Lavia are not expected to be a problem.
Liverpool had agreed a deal worth £60m with Southampton for Lavia on Sunday night, but the player has made it clear he wants to go to Chelsea.
Liverpool have already missed out on Moises Caicedo to Chelsea. The Blues signed Caicedo from Brighton worth a British record £115m. That followed Liverpool having a £111m offer accepted only for the 21-year-old to inform them he intended to join Chelsea.
Chelsea want to bring in two midfielders in this window and talks between them and Leeds United over the signing of Tyler Adams broke down last week after the parties were unable to reach an agreement.
Southampton had initially been holding firm on their £50m valuation of 19-year-old Lavia. Chelsea had made an offer of £48m last week, while Liverpool had seen three previous offers turned down this summer.
Lavia has four years left on his Southampton contract after joining from Manchester City last summer but was always expected to leave after Saints were relegated from the Premier League last season.
The Belgium international did not come off the bench during Southampton’s win over Sheffield Wednesday on the opening night of the season, while he was not named in the squad for the Carabao Cup defeat at Gillingham on Tuesday or the 4-4 draw with Norwich on Saturday.
Source:skysports.com
