Romeo Lavia is yet to make his Chelsea debut after choosing the club over Liverpool, and a major ankle injury is expected to prevent him from doing so.
Lavia and Moises Caicedo’s back-and-forth in the final days of the transfer window finally left Liverpool without either.
Both chose to sign with Chelsea, and the Reds ultimately switched to Wataru Endo.
None of those three players have made a splash so far this season, but Lavia’s position is different. Lavia reportedly rejected Liverpool because he felt like their “second choice,” according to sources.
After suffering ligament damage in training less than three weeks after joining Chelsea, the midfielder who was acquired from Southampton is still waiting to make his Chelsea debut.
A recent update from Mauricio Pochettino revealed that his rehabilitation period may end up being even longer than the initial six-week estimate.
When questioned whether Lavia would be in shape following the international break, he responded, “I don’t believe [he] will be back.”
He is still not running, but I’m afraid I can’t tell you. He won’t be prepared after the international break, Romeo.
Naturally, Liverpool is no longer interested in this situation since they have moved on to other targets and, if sources are to be believed, may be considering a January transfer for Fluminense’s Andre.
Lavia’s predicament, though, might be a sign that a potential issue was avoided in the pursuit of a player who was essential to Southampton’s relegation fight last season.
Lavia, who joined as an 18-year-old from Man City, had only played 97 minutes on the field in two first-team outings before moving to St. Mary’s.
As a result, his season with the Saints was his first complete one as a senior professional. He went on to play 34 times and log 2,490 minutes on the field.
He appeared in all but one movie between January and May.
Having already missed the U21 Euros with Belgium owing to a muscular problem in the summer, his greater risk of injury after moving from Southampton to Chelsea will definitely have been influenced by this increased effort.
Due to the increasing significance of 18-year-old Stefan Bajcetic in the second part of the previous season, Liverpool encountered this issue.
Before suffering an abductor injury in March that caused his season to end early, Bajcetic was on a consistent run of starts in his debut year as a senior professional. Since then, he has played in just two games.
Since Lavia’s injury occurred during training, most of it is still speculative, but he may not have come as the readymade starter Liverpool needed.
