Southampton reportedly turned down a £50m verbal proposal from Chelsea for midfielder Romeo Lavia on transfer deadline day.
The 18-year-old only joined Ralph Hasenhuttl's side from Manchester City for an £11m fee in January and has already cemented his place in the middle of the park.
Lavia played the full 90 in each of his side's opening four fixtures before scoring his first Southampton goal in style during the Saints' midweek 2-1 win over Chelsea at St Mary's.
The Belgium Under-21 international was taken off on the hour mark of that game with a hamstring injury, though, and he is set to miss up to six weeks with the issue.
In spite of his unfortunate injury, journalist Fabrizio Romano claims that Chelsea tried to swoop for Lavia on Thursday following his contribution in their midweek fixture.
Romano claims that the Blues came forward with a £50m proposal for the youngster, but Southampton deem him 'untouchable' and quickly rebuffed Chelsea's advances.
Furthermore, Man City inserted a buyback clause into Lavia's contract when he left for Southampton in July, which could see the Premier League champions re-sign the midfielder for £40m in the future.
Behind the scenes. Chelsea wanted to sign Romeo Lavia on Deadline Day with £50m verbal proposal rejected by Southampton — of course, he's untouchable. 🚨🔵 #CFC
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 3, 2022
Southampton invested £12m plus add-ons for Lavia — and Man City have £40m buy back clause. pic.twitter.com/6oo1Rre2mt
Lavia only made two senior appearances for Man City in the FA Cup and EFL Cup before joining the Saints, and he is under contract at St Mary's until the summer of 2027.
Despite missing out on Lavia, Chelsea did add to their midfield ranks on deadline day with the arrival of Denis Zakaria on loan from Juventus with an option to buy.
The former Borussia Monchengladbach man struggled to make a serious impression during his first half-season in Turin and arrived at Stamford Bridge after the Blues failed with a £43m offer for Ajax's Edson Alvarez.
Ajax had already sanctioned the exits of Lisandro Martinez, Antony, Ryan Gravenberch, Perr Schuurs, Sebastien Haller and Nicolas Tagliafico among others, but Chelsea could return for Alvarez's signature in January.
As well as Zakaria, Chelsea currently have Jorginho, N'Golo Kante, Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Conor Gallagher and Mateo Kovacic competing for midfield spots, but the former two are in the final year of their contracts.
Thomas Tuchel's side allowed Billy Gilmour to complete a permanent switch to Brighton & Hove Albion on deadline day, while Ethan Ampadu returned to Italy for another loan spell, this time with Spezia.
Gallagher, Loftus-Cheek and Kovacic linked up in the middle during Chelsea's 2-1 win over West Ham United on Saturday, but the result was marred by controversy as a late Maxwel Cornet leveller was chalked off by VAR for a foul on Edouard Mendy by Jarrod Bowen.
