‘They didn’t need him’… Gary Neville says there was no point in Chelsea signing £54m player this summer

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Chelsea have made a number of bizarre signings in recent years, but perhaps the strangest signing Chelsea have made lately is Romeo Lavia.

The Belgian arrived at Stamford Bridge on deadline day this summer, and he’s barely kicked a ball since.

Lavia has struggled with injuries, but, at the same time, with Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez and Conor Gallagher already in the side, he probably wouldn’t get a game if he was fit.

Speaking on The Overlap, Gary Neville has been discussing Chelsea’s recruitment and Lavia’s move in particular, and he says that Lavia was a totally unnecessary signing driven by ego.

Romeo Lavia was an unnecessary signing

Neville shared his verdict on Lavia.

“They went and bought Enzo, they go and buy Caicedo and then through their ego they went and bought Lavia on the final day of the transfer window for £54m and then they have to sell Conor Gallagher? They didn’t need Lavia, he’s not even played a game for them anyway,” Neville said.

Waste of money

Romeo Lavia is a very talented player, and for another club, he absolutely would be worth a big transfer fee.

However, paying £54m for another midfielder after spending over £200m on your two starting options in that position just seems irresponsible to us.

Lavia is a talent, and we’re sure he will prove to be a valuable player for Chelsea in years to come, but with so many other gaping holes in this squad, we’re not sure that spending so much to pad out the midfield with another body was the right thing to do this summer.

As Neville says, this seemed to be more of an ego-driven signing to prove a point after Liverpool had spent all summer chasing Lavia rather than a truly necessarily signing at Stamford Bridge.