Romeo Lavia to complete £58m Chelsea transfer as he pens emotional farewell to Southampton

• Lavia set to join Chelsea
• Has successfully completed medical
• Bids goodbye to Southampton

WHAT HAPPENED? The midfielder will join the Blues after the Saints accepted an offer of £53m ($68m) plus £5m ($6m) add-ons from the London club. He had successfully undergone his medical on Wednesday but an official confirmation of the move is awaited from both the parties.

Before that, Lavia penned a farewell message addressing the Saints fans where he expressed his gratefulness for their continued support during his stint at St. Mary's Stadium. The caption read: "To Saints Fans. As I say goodbye, I want to say a big thank you for everything you have given me during my time here. I've instantly felt the love from you all despite us not achieving our shared goals. I'll never forget the belief the club and Saints all around the world showed me and I hope I was able to repay the faith you put in me.

"I would especially like to thank all my teammates and all staff members within the club involved closely or not for putting your arms around me since the day I walked through the Staplewood Campus and for all the daily work and help behind the scenes making me become a better person, athlete and football player. You have all played a massive part into making my integration into real professional football easier. I will be forever grateful to you. For those reasons, this club will always remain close to my heart.

"Good luck this season and I look forward to seeing the club marching back to the Premier League where it belongs very soon! Thank you Saints."

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Lavia had rejected Liverpool in favour of joining Chelsea as he felt that The Reds were treating him as a backup option when the Merseyside club went all out to get Moises Caicedo ahead of him. He will join the Ecuadorian at Stamford Bridge after Chelsea smashed their own British record transfer fee to get Caicedo from Brighton.

WHAT NEXT? It remains to be seen if Lavia is available for selection when Chelsea make a trip to London Stadium to lock horns against West Ham on Sunday.