CHELSEA UPDATE! The latest on Caicedo, Olise, Lavia and more!

It's Chelsea, who've been dominating this summer, and they still are. They could end up spending £200 million in one week. The latest incoming looks to be Romeo Lavia. They've agreed a fee with Southampton for the midfielder worth £58 million. He will now have a medical. There's someone else they're close to signing as well, which we'll get to in a moment. But, Zac, in terms of Romeo Lavia, is he being signed as a first-team regular? I think someone of his nature and of his experience now from last season would be looking at getting regular minutes. With Caicedo now joining Chelsea as well, that midfield of an Enzo Fernandes and Caicedo duo seems pretty nailed on. I think to kind of get in ahead of those two is going to be quite tough. However, there is a place where Chelsea can play a three-man midfield that features Lavia. Lavia is a different player to Caicedo. I think a lot of people will think they are similar, and they do have a lot of similarities due to people saying that Chelsea and Liverpool is either one or the other. But Lavia has qualities that Caicedo doesn't. I think when he's on the ball and going forward and carrying it forward, his progressiveness is probably a little bit better than Caicedo's. And he's a player that can be developed as well. And under Pochettino, he can kind of be used to whatever need he needs him for. But look, Chelsea also want to be getting back into European places. They will be wanting to play a lot more football next year, and they're going to need a squad and midfield that can do that. Last year, we saw when Chelsea were playing in the Premier League and in different competitions, they suffered injuries in midfield. And it only really takes one injury in midfield, and then you just suddenly look and go, okay, they are in a little bit of issues now. And by getting someone on Romeo Lavia's level, who looks like he's got an incredible future ahead of him, I think there is enough minutes this season for him to be happy. What a luxury. And it is a luxury. It is a luxury. I mean, it's no surprise. He'd probably be getting more minutes if he was at Liverpool, with that kind of position of six being highly available now. But there are other guys that might be a little bit more concerned. Obviously, they signed Andre Santos as well, when he came to the squad this summer. He might now wonder what's going to happen for his position. They've also got Conor Gallagher, who's there, and we saw him partner Enzo against Liverpool. What's going to happen for him? There's a few players there, I guess, where there's going to be a lot of question marks, and that's where they're going to have to be honest and get chats with Pochettino and find out what their future is. Cassaday has gone out on loan, hasn't he? Yes. In the last couple of days. Dan, with Lavia, at the start of last summer, he was a youngster who was at Manchester City, who it seemed like Southampton were taking a chance on. A year later, £58 million to Chelsea. How surprised have you been by his rise? Yeah, if you'd spoken to me 12 months ago and told me this was going to happen, I would have been surprised. But having watched him last season, I really think this kid's the real deal. He's not quite at the level of Corcedo or Enzo Fernandes yet, but for Chelsea, what a third option to have in your midfield. I've spoke to a lot of ex-pros who used to play in midfield who say to me that they think midfielders get away with it nowadays because they're either a six or a ten, basically. So in their day, they had to do a bit of everything. I think Lavia, wherever he plays, he does a bit of everything. He's not a defensive midfield, so you wouldn't play him as a lone six. But I think in a pair, as two sixes, with the one who's perhaps got a bit more licence to go forward, I think that absolutely suits him down to the ground. He's got such a strong skill set. He can put his foot in, he's a good distributor. He's press resistant, the way he operates in tight spaces. I think putting him with that manager as well is the key thing. You're putting him with Pochettino, I think Chelsea are on to a winner. Chelsea have been interested as well in him for a while now. When he moved to Southampton last year, we saw there was interest from Chelsea as well in that summer market just over a year ago. I think Joe Shields as well in Chelsea's backroom staff has had a huge play here. Obviously, he knew him at Manchester City, knew him at Southampton, and now him being at Chelsea has probably been a huge play too. Nabeed, we can't talk about Lavia without thinking about the Liverpool side of things, because it looked like they were getting him. How frustrating has this been for Liverpool, especially after what happened with Caicedo? I mean, that's basically why I've sat here silent. You have not been yourself today, Rami, obviously. In fairness to Nabeed, so the viewers know, he was doing Soccer Special last night. The poor lad has worked himself to the bone. And then I've come in this morning, I'm going to talk about Lavia and Caicedo again. I mean, I think I speak for all Liverpool fans, that we've sort of come into this window expecting more arrivals in midfield, potentially a left-sided centre-back, potentially back-about full-back. We've ended up in a situation where we've lost most of the players in our midfield, mainly because the offers were irresistible. I have seen some people on social media saying, shouldn't have sold Fabinho, but £40 million is a great offer. But now the situation leaves Liverpool, where they've offered for Moses Caicedo £110 million. Everyone now knows that Liverpool have £110 million, which has not been the situation before. And so now Liverpool can't go around the market and sort of sneak up on someone and sweep a deal. And then Lavia has decided to go to Chelsea as well. So Liverpool's two main targets are now out of the running and we're sort of at a point where we're lost, actually. I know we'll talk more about Liverpool shortly, but yeah, we're lost. Well, Chelsea certainly not lost, and they have triggered the release clause in Michael Alise's contract, thought to be £35 million. Chelsea will be able to talk to the player and discuss personal terms with Alise, given permission to have a medical. OK, Zak, so why Alise for Chelsea? I guess if you look at a lot of recent signings Chelsea have made, it ticks all the boxes. A youngster who has huge potential and solid experience in the league that they've been playing in. We've seen that with Alise last season with Crystal Palace. He had a fantastic year. Maybe his best year yet, especially creatively. And actually, if you look into Chelsea's squad on the wing, creative wingers is something they actually don't necessarily have. Somebody that kind of makes something out of nothing, who's willing to take on a player. I mean, his assist last year, getting 11 assists in the league is no mean feat. It's fantastic. It has to be said. He's obviously a right winger that can play also in that 10 position. And Chelsea, whilst they do have Raheem Sterling, they do have Madawaki, who has also at times been out for injuries. They could do with another backup, especially someone that can kind of play in that 10 position. Nkunku's out at the moment. We think maybe that could be where he plays. Connor Gallagher could feature there as well. But someone like Alise could make that position his own, especially over the next couple of months whilst Christopher Nkunku is out. I think he is a solid sign. I think overall Chelsea are definitely targeting these youngsters who could have fantastic potential and careers. And also, if it doesn't quite work out at Chelsea, you can have good sell-on value as well. He is an exciting player, though, isn't he, Alise? Yeah, Chelsea are having an incredible window with the type of player that they're bringing in under this manager, as I said earlier. I think I like Alise's development. So he's been at Chelsea, hasn't he? Was it Man City? It was, I think, Arsenal at one point, then Chelsea for a long time, then Man City. Yeah, so he's operated in the high-level academies. He's gone to a championship club, got in the team there, done it in the AFL, gone to Crystal Palace, again, had a couple of seasons there, learnt his trade. And now the time feels right to get that move to Chelsea and in the modern-day market as well. I mean, whoever put that clause in Crystal Palace must be absolutely fuming, because £35 million for a 21-year-old, is he? 21-year-old player who's got two years in the Premier League. Now, someone whose game really developed last season. It felt like the end product came a little bit more last season. But also, if you watch him, he seemed a bit more switched on defensively, became more of a team player. So, just as Palace have got him to that level, you're losing him for £35 million, which is a snip in the modern-day transfer market. Quite a rare sign-in for Chelsea in terms of wide options. At the moment, you've got explosive wingers who lack final product, and now you've got probably the opposite, almost like a Riyad Mahrez type, who 13-goal contributions last season for a Palace side that don't score many goals and aren't very creative, actually, unless their wingers in Zaha or Eze or, obviously, Alise are on form. I think you've actually signed a player where you go, if you're struggling in the game, you can chuck him in. He'll get you that final product. At the moment, you're bringing on Modric, and you're still waiting for what you'll get. There's a lot of what-ifs at the moment for the Chelsea squad. I think all over the pitch, you look at from the defence to the attack, and even maybe with Sanchez in goal, you can question or say what if it works out there as well. As I mentioned, I think there's an idea, I guess, of surely one of them will succeed and become this incredible winger. With Alise, as you mentioned, he had that Premier League experience. You feel for Palace, obviously, because they've lost Zaha. Losing another one in Alise can be definitely disappointing. They've all looked at Eze to do a lot in that forward role. But yeah, from a Chelsea point of view, buying attractive Premier League players who have shown their potential already in the league is definitely a strong way to go about things. It just feels like it's coming together for Chelsea a little bit now. We've all questioned them over the last 12 months, but they've got the right manager. Yeah, having Potts is a big thing. Having Potts is a big thing. Well, it's a big outlay on three players when you include Moise Caicedo as well. And the thing is, they haven't actually played a lot of Premier League football altogether. We can show you, actually, between Caicedo, Lavia and Alise, there's not a huge amount of Premier League experience there. Zac, is that in any way, shape or form a worry? Remember, of course, Alise and Lavia haven't signed yet. Yes, of course. I think, look, you've got to get, eventually, you've got to get Premier League experience. And when you are this young, at the age of, say, Lavia and 19, having 29 Premier League games or Premier League appearances is actually quite impressive. Yeah, good point. So, yeah. It's not like those players have never played in the Premier League, is it? I think, if I was a Chelsea fan, I'd watch them on Sunday and thought, I've criticised it a little bit in the summer, but I actually sat there on Sunday and watched it and thought, this is really exciting, especially after what you went through last season. What will be interesting is bringing those profiles into Chelsea side, where you've had, like, Moses Carcedo at Brighton. Brighton are so well run, top to bottom. He's arrived for literally pennies in comparison to what they've sold him for. Now a huge feed to Chelsea, a change of role, possibly. Brighton probably have the most flawless system in the league. And now he comes to Chelsea where new manager, new keeper and everything's sort of chopping and changing.