Tino Livramento has sent a goodbye message to Chelsea ahead of his expected £5m transfer to Southampton in this summer transfer window.
The 18-year-old said via his official Twitter profile that it was a difficult decision to leave the club he has supported since childhood but confirmed that he was “taking the next bid step” in his career.
Reports from Sunday evening and this morning suggest that an announcement of Livramento’s move to Saints is very close, with the Daily Mail providing the first breaking news of an agreement between the two Premier League clubs.
This looks a huge coup for Saints given that were said to be competing with the likes of Manchester City, Brighton, Arsenal, RB Leipzig, AC Milan and Monaco for his signature.
After 10 amazing years of playing for the only club that I’ve supported since a child, I’m taking the next big step in my career.Its been a difficult decision, but I feel it’s the right one to make at this stage of my development. Thank you for everything @ChelseaFC 💙 pic.twitter.com/WJKBu9wp68
— tino livramento (@tino_livramento) August 2, 2021
Southampton will benefit from developing a huge talent
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Chelsea seem keen to have a chance to take Livramento back to Stamford Bridge in the future having inserted a buy-back clause.
Hampshire Live confirmed the inclusion of both a buy-back and sell-on clause, whilst the Sun’s Tom Barclay suggests that Chelsea will have to pay upwards of £25m to take the youngster back to South London.
It was last season that Tino Livramento made his biggest steps in his career so far. Despite being only 18, he has made 26 appearances for Chelsea’s Under-23s side but did not look to have the opportunities to break through into the club’s first-team.
He will get chances with Saints though. Ralph Hasenhuttl has been keen to add some depth in the full-back positions and will benefit from Livramento’s ability to play as a winger and a right-back.
Playing football at St Mary’s will play a big part in the development of one of the biggest talents in the country right now. He will then command a big fee if he reaches his full potential – whether that be with a return to Chelsea through the buy-back clause or a move to another club.