Chelsea could delay Romeo Lavia’s return to action until December as they treat the Belgian midfielder with caution as he continues to recover from an ankle ligament injury.
Having made a name for himself last season with Southampton, the teenager is yet to play for Chelsea since the Blues beat Liverpool to his signature in a deal that could be worth £58m once add-ons are triggered. Chelsea also outbid their Premier League rivals for Moises Caicedo.
But Lavia suffered an injury in training in September and Chelsea have been waiting ever since for the player to recover and rebuild his fitness.
Prior to October internationals, Mauricio Pochettino had said: "Romeo still is not running, so I cannot tell you [when he will return]. After the international break, he is still not going to be ready."
There are now positive updates on Lavia’s situation. The Daily Mail has reported that he was able to remove the protective boot from his ankle last week and start rehab work in the pool.
It is considered a step forward, although late November is still thought to be the earliest that he might be ready to get back on the pitch. Even then, that is the optimistic view and early December might be more realistic given that a cautious approach is probably more sensible.
Lavia is not the only expensive acquisition to have had his Chelsea debut delayed by injury, with Christopher Nkunku also yet to play a competitive game for the Blues since his £52m move from RB Leipzig – the Frenchman suffered a knee injury in pre-season and is slated for a December return.
Pochettino has had real trouble replacing Nkunku, who gave Chelsea fans plenty of reason to get excited with his performances over the summer. In the last few weeks, Cole Palmer has started to have an impact after arriving from Manchester City, with January signing Mykhailo Mudryk also finally scoring his first goal for the club and Armando Broja back from long-term injury.
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This article was originally published on 90min as Why Chelsea could delay Romeo Lavia's return from injury.