Romeo Lavia showed a technical ability perfect for Manchester City, yet also enough room for improvement to make Pep Guardiola salivate over a £40m return.
There is an obvious argument to be made for Liverpool, but the Premier League opponent Pep Guardiola has felt most intrinsically linked to since arriving as Manchester City manager in summer 2016 could be Southampton.
They are the team against whom Manchester City secured their status as Centurions, the side which so attracted the Spaniard’s Nathan Redmond-directed ire, the club that raided the Etihad academy for talents to polish and eventually move on last summer.
One such gem might be returned to sender sooner than first envisaged. Gavin Bazunu, Samuel Edozie and Juan Larios will find their respective levels eventually but Romeo Lavia has already proven himself to at least eventually belong in such esteemed company.
Concerning/odd thing about Southampton is everyone can readily identify 3-4 players that should be of interest to Top 6 clubs after they get relegated.
— 🦥 Carl Anka is OOO 🦥 (@Ankaman616) April 8, 2023
“I am really impressed with what Romeo has done and is doing,” Guardiola said before the champions embarked on their weekend trip to St Mary’s. “We had, and we have, an incredible opinion about him. We thought to keep him, but maybe he would not (get) enough minutes like he has in Southampton.”
It might be a stretch to suggest Manchester City regret selling the teenage midfielder, but Lavia has been an island of excellence in a sea of general ineptitude at Southampton. He is one of few who will emerge from credit in this likely relegation season.
Those Manchester City fingerprints can be seen on the Belgian in each game and early on this was no different. The way he pauses and takes an extra moment to plot a pass through the swarm of opposition bodies mixes beautifully with an ability to launch and lead counter-presses of his own. There were times when Guardiola’s side genuinely struggled to get close to him in the first half.
As can be expected, that faded as legs and the mind – both individual and collective – started to toil against the imposing Manchester City tide. Lavia offered as little resistance as his teammates once Erling Haaland opened the scoring on the stroke of first-half stoppage-time.
Ruben Selles was yelling at the midfielder for not offering a passing angle to Bazunu at 2-0 down. Haaland made it three a few minutes later and within a…
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