Chelsea have sanctioned the sale of Timo Livramento to Southampton, and the youngster has joined the Saints until 2026.
Livramento was voted Chelsea’s academy player of the year, starring in Premier League 2 and registering 3 goals and six assists. The youngster operates as a right-back and is showing passive potential. Keeping that in mind, and the fact that Cesar Azpilicueta is in the latter stages of his career at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea have included a buyback clause in his contract.
The summer of 2021 sees yet another academy player from Cobham sold, with Marc Guehi joining Crystal Palace and Lewis Bate joining Leeds as well. Chelsea have lived to regret selling off young players in the past, with the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Mohamed Salah and Romelu Lukaku only some of the names in the list.
To further illustrate this point, the Champions League winners had a €130 million bid for Romelu Lukaku rejected by Inter Milan. Remember, this is a player that was once part of their youth system and was written off.
All three have gone on to become world-class performers. And while it can be argued that the move away from Chelsea was needed to fulfill their potential, one must also wonder what it would’ve been like if the London club gave them the chance to prove themselves. However, such is the cutthroat philosophy of Chelsea where results speak over sentiments.
Chelsea are currently in the race for Jules Kounde, and are yet to finalise the deal with the new season only 11 days away.
