Chelsea should copy Man City and make €50m bid for alternate Romeo Lavia | OneFootball

Manchester City were overly passive in the summer and paid the price with an unprecedented disaster in their first half of the season.

But in January they stepped up to address their issues, while Chelsea (whose season started far better but had been falling apart since December) did nothing.

One important addition to City, who have been without midfield lynchpin Rodri since the early part of the season, was former Barcelona midfielder Nico Gonzalez, who has come into the team and immediately added some balance to their midfield.

Chelsea have also been linked with a midfielder coming out of a La Liga academy in the shape of Pablo Barrios. The Atletico Madrid midfielder got an unfortunate red card last week but has otherwise been growing nicely into a key player for Diego Simeone.

CaughtOffside today report again on our growing interest in the number 6 ahead of a potential summer bid. A €50m price is mentioned for the 21 year old, similar to the fee that City paid for Nico. As far as we can see, he’d be a great addition to our midfield, providing a non-injured alternative to Romeo Lavia.

Simeone gives approval to developing midfielder

Pablo Barrios playing for Spain. (Photo by Juan Manuel Serrano Arce/Getty Images)

“He has a fantastic game, and I told him that we’re going to work to shape it. We are trying to bring out Pablo’s full potential. He has to grow, but he’s doing very well. I’m excited. He’s a kid from the academy, and he can play several roles.”

If he’s got the character and drive to impress Simeone, that’s all we need to hear. The hard part will be paying Atletico the presumably huge fee they will want, and persuading Barrios he’s better served fighting for 6th in the Premier League than the title in Spain.