Maresca confirms £58m man is fit and available for Leicester clash in huge boost for Chelsea
11/23/2024 02:00 AM
Chelsea have been handed a huge boost ahead of Saturday's game with Leicester City after Enzo Maresca confirmed midfielder Romeo Lavia is fit and available.
Lavia has been plagued by injury issues following his move from Southampton in summer 2023 in a deal worth up to £58m, and played just 32 minutes of football under Mauricio Pochettino last season.
The 20-year-old was one of Chelsea's top performers in pre-season and thankfully he's been able to feature on a more regular basis this season, and is a key part of the squad under Maresca.
Maresca confirms Lavia is fit for Leicester trip
Lavia started the first game of the season against Manchester City but then missed the next four league games after picking up a hamstring injury as a late substitute in the Conference League play-off against Servette.
Maresca made the bold call to restore Lavia to the starting line-up at the expense of World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez for the trip to Liverpool, and although the Blues lost the Belgian put in a good performance.
Lavia has subsequently started every league game since then and has kept Fernandez confined to the bench, although he suffered an injury scare before he came off in the draw with Arsenal earlier this month.
The midfielder was called up to the Belgium squad for the first time in 18 months for the recent international break, although he didn't feature in either of their Nations League games amid concerns over a hamstring injury.
However, Lavia was pictured training at Cobham this week and in a boost to the Blues Maresca has confirmed the Belgium international is fit and available for the trip to Leicester.
"The reason why he is not available for the Conference League squad is because we want to take care of him, players like Romeo and Wesley Fofana and those players who were injured last year," he told Chelsea's website.
"But Romeo is very young, he is 20 and he has to work hard. His career is going to have more injuries because it is part of being a player and it is normal.
"But in this moment, he is good, he is fit, he is back and he is doing well. He has to continue to work hard."
Lavia will likely be rotated in the upcoming games given Chelsea are being cautious with him and the games are coming thick and fast in the lead up to Christmas which mean Fernandez could return to the starting line-up soon.
