Reported Aston Villa and Southampton target Tino Livramento has been left out of the Chelsea academy’s pre-season plans after talks over a new contract hit the buffers, as reported by the Athletic.
As Mason Mount, Fikayo Tomori and hat-trick hero Tammy Abraham combined brilliantly to destroy Wolverhampton Wanderers on their own Molineux turf in September 2019, it looked for all the world that Chelsea had turned a corner, finally offering their most exciting, homegrown talent a route into the first-team and utilising one of Europe’s finest production lines.
Two years on, with Tomori gone, Abraham going and another summer of heavy spending planned, it is tempting to wonder if progress had ever really been made at all.
Did Chelsea only give youth a chance due to that 2019 transfer ban? Was it a decision made out of necessity, rather than any long-term change in philosophy?
Will Tino Livramento leave Chelsea for Aston Villa or Southampton?
Just 24 hours after it was reported that Marc Guehi was on his way to Crystal Palace for £20 million, the Athletic reports that Lewis Bate, Myles Peart-Harris and Dynel Simeu could walk away from Stamford Bridge too, fearing a lack of opportunities under Thomas Tuchel.
Livramento, the rampaging right-back and Chelsea’s 2021 Academy Player of the Year, also appears to have reservations about extending a contract which is due to expire in 2022.
The London-born teen was included in two of Tuchel’s matchday squads last season but, with Reece James and Cesar Azpilicueta battling for a starting place on the right-hand side of Chelsea’s defence, Premier League rivals Aston Villa and Southampton are now looking to lure Livramento away from Stamford Bridge (Goal).
Opportunities will certainly be easier to come by elsewhere, with Villa looking to bring in competition for Matty Cash.
Southampton, meanwhile, could step up their pursuit of Livramento after a deal to sign Brandon Williams stalled.
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