Chelsea have reached an agreement to sign Belgium midfielder Romeo Lavia from Southampton, according to media reports on Tuesday.

The BBC reported that Chelsea agreed a fee of 53 million pounds ($67.32 million) for the 19-year-old.

Lavia signed for Manchester City in 2020 but made just two appearances for the club before joining Saints in July 2022 for 10.5 million pounds.

The defensive midfielder played 34 games in all competitions for the south-coast club, scoring once but was unable to prevent Southampton’s relegation from the Premier League.

Liverpool also made a bid for Lavia but missed out on the Belgian who will now join Chelsea’s British record signing Moises Caicedo at Stamford Bridge.

Lionel Messi scored his ninth goal with his new club and Inter Miami reached the first major final in club history by dispatching the Philadelphia Union 4-1 in a Leagues Cup semifinal on Tuesday in Chester, Pennsylvania.

All nine of Messi’s goals since his Miami introduction last month have come in the Leagues Cup, a tournament contested between all 47 teams in Major League Soccer and Liga MX.

He will look for his 10th (or more) in Saturday night’s final against Nashville SC, who beat CF Monterrey 2-0 in the other semifinal later on Tuesday. The final will be played in Nashville.

Josef Martinez opened the scoring with his third goal of the tournament, and Messi’s former FC Barcelona teammate Jordi Alba scored his first goal for the Herons in the win, with all of those coming before halftime.

David Ruiz added late insurance for a Miami team that has outscored opponents 21-7 in their six games during the tournament.

Alejandro Bedoya pulled a late goal back for Philadelphia, which will exit yet another knockout competition in the later stages without a title.

The Union lost on penalties in last year’s MLS Cup final, exited in the semifinals of 2023 Concacaf Champions League this spring and were beaten in the 2021 MLS Eastern Conference finals. They’ve also lost three US Open Cup finals since 2014.

Conventional wisdom suggested this would be Messi’s toughest test since his arrival in America, but it was all Miami beginning with Martinez’s third-minute strike.

The Herons went very direct, with defender Sergii Kryvtsov playing a ball over the top for the striker to run onto down the right.

Martinez reached it, carved out space on the right side of the box, and then hammered a low and hard strike between goalkeeper Andre Blake and the far post.

Messi made it 2-0 in the 20th minute with his latest outstanding strike from beyond the penalty area. His two previous goals came from free kicks.

This time, Messi was afforded some space about 30 yards from goal in open play and took advantage, unleashing another low effort past the diving Blake and inside the right post.

Alba scored on a break down the left side in first-half stoppage time to effectively seal the outcome.

Carlos Alcaraz battled through a rain interruption to claim his 50th win of the season, defeating Jordan Thompson 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 on Wednesday at the Cincinnati Open.

The top-seeded Spaniard is bidding for his seventh trophy of 2023 as he prepares for a US Open title defence in less than a fortnight.

His victory took three hours, with the world No 1 breaking open the third set as he delivered two love games and moved through on a second match point.

“I had never played him and the start/stop was not easy,” Alcaraz said. “It was not easy to wait for the rain.

“He played aggressive, I’m glad to get through. It was a long day waiting to play and then find rain in the first set.

“I had to play my best level at the end; I’m hoping for better conditions in the next round.”

Alcaraz was tested by number 55 Thompson who now stands 2-16 against Top-10 opponents.

The Spaniard had 32 winners and 41 unforced errors in the marathon.

Including a 15-minute pause for rain and subsequent warmup, the first set took nearly 90 minutes, with Thompson saving 10 of a dozen break points only to lose on the first Alcaraz set point.

Alcaraz came back from a break down in the second set and ran away with the third as Thompson complained to the chair umpire about an incorrectly strung racquet which he only discovered at a late stage in the epic.

BRITISH EXODUS

In other games, an inspired Gael Monfils applied the finishing touches to a British exodus with a 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 defeat of 13th seed Cameron Norrie.

The veteran French showman got his left knee wrapped in the opening set of the first-round match and took confidence from encouraging words from the physio to secure the win which left Britain 0-3 on the day here.

The rush to the exits began with the withdrawal of Andy Murray due to an existing abdominal injury dating to last week in Toronto.

Meanwhile, on court, Lorenzo Musetti defeated Dan Evans 6-4, 6-3 before Monfils staged his comeback victory against British No 1 Norrie.

In other matches, Alexander Zverev defeated fellow former tournament champion Grigor Dimitrov 6-2, 6-2.

Germany’s Zverev, the 16th seed, claimed the title at his last participation in 2021 while Dimitrov lifted the trophy in 2017.

Zverev was joined in the second round by former semifinalist Stan Wawrinka, who polished off a win after rain called a halt to his match the night before.

Switzerland’s three-time Grand Slam champion defeated American Brandon Nakashima 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 6-3, requiring just two concluding games to reach the second round after the overnight pause.

Borna Coric concluded unfinished business with Petra Korda, winning 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 while Ugo Humbert defeated fellow Frenchman Arthur Fils 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.

GARCIA OUT

In the WTA draw, the continuing career comeback of former No 1 Carolina Wozniacki failed to ignite as the Dane went down to French lucky loser Varvara Gracheva 6-4, 6-4 in 96 minutes.

Wozniacki, 33, won her first comeback match a week ago in Montreal before losing in the second round to Wimbledon winner Marketa Vondrousova.

Three-time Grand Slam runner-up Ons Jabeur, playing for the first time since losing last month’s Wimbledon final, survived a struggle with Anhelina Kalinina of Ukraine to reach the third round 6-3, 6-7 (2/7), 7-6 (7/2).

Unseeded American Sloane Stephens, making her 12th tournament appearance, defeated holder Caroline Garcia 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the last 16 alongside Jabeur.

The sixth-seeded Frenchwoman had won the title here a year ago from a qualifying start, defeating three Top 10 opponents along the way.

All England Club title winner Marketa Vondrousova beat Katerina Siniakova 7-5, 6-4.

Two-time Cincinnati winner Victoria Azarenka rallied from 1-4 down in the second set to overhaul Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 7-5.

Azarenka’s fellow double Grand Slam champion Petra Kvitova took down Anna Blinkova 7-6 (7/2), 6-0.

Kevin de Bruyne could miss the next four months of the season as Manchester City decide whether he needs surgery on a hamstring injury, manager Pep Guardiola says.

The 32-year-old limped off after 23 minutes in City’s opening win against Burnley at Turf Moor on Friday. 

De Bruyne also went off injured during the Champions League final win over Inter Milan in June.

“It’s a serious injury,” said Guardiola. 

The Belgium midfielder missed all City’s pre-season matches and returned as a second-half substitute in the Community Shield defeat by Arsenal. 

“We have to decide if he needs surgery or no surgery but he will be out for a few months,” added Guardiola, who confirmed De Bruyne’s issue is related to the same hamstring. 

“The decision on surgery will be taken in the coming days and could see him miss three or four months”.

De Bruyne scored 10 goals and provided 31 assists as City claimed the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup last season.

He said earlier this month he had been playing through the pain with a hamstring injury for the final two months of the season, but Guardiola said every precaution had been taken before the game against Burnley.