According to Sky Sports, Manchester City have reportedly sold their academy talent Romeo Lavia to Southampton. It is understood that Sky Blues have received £14 million as the transfer fee involved in the deal.
Lavia’s Campaign At The Etihad Club
Romeo Lavia joined the club from Anderlecht in 2020 and made his senior debut last season in the Carabao cup. The 18-year-old has produced some influential displays in the central areas of the pitch for Manchester City’s U-23 team in the Premier League 2.
The Brussels-born talent scored 2 goals and created 4 assists over the course of two years appearing for 38 matches in both of his campaigns.
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Was Selling Him A Good Move From Manchester City Boss Guardiola?
Manchester City have adopted a wider transfer policy in recent years as they’ve nurtured academy talents to develop and grow into players who can perform extraordinarily when given first-team chances. This makes it more evident that the Sky Blues are not just splashing huge sums of money for players already in the spotlight, they have a wider approach that looks to bring in young individuals and develop them further to make them capable of moving to the senior team or being loaned out to play at a high level all across Europe.
Guardiola has taken turns looking after the youth academy and the players’ development. When a player develops to a level that he can be deemed fit to play in the senior teams, City either loans them out to top clubs across Europe or offers them a chance to play in the first team at Etihad. Even though Romeo Lavia was sold to the Saints, the Mancunian giants have done well to add a buy-back option in the contract.
This makes it prevalent that the Sky Blues will continue to lead in the youth department in bringing in talented individuals who will command significant fees. Guardiola has been wise to sell him to Southampton as regular play time would be beneficial for him and the Spaniard could invoke the buy-back clause to bring him back when required.
