Former Tottenham manager Tim Sherwood has been speaking about Romeo Lavia and described the midfielder as incredible.
Lavia arrived at Chelsea from Southampton in the summer of 2023 in a deal worth up to £58m, with the Blues beating Liverpool to the Belgian’s signature.
The midfielder’s debut campaign was ravaged by injury and he only played 32 minutes across the entirety of last season, with Lavia recently admitting his first year at Stamford Bridge didn’t go as he expected.
Sherwood a big fan of Lavia
Lavia had the summer off and came back for pre-season looking fit and refreshed, with the Belgium international one of Chelsea’s stand-out performers on their tour of America.
He started his first game for the club against Manchester City and put in an impressive performance, but then picked up an injury which ruled him out for a few games.
Lavia didn’t start a game again until the defeat to Liverpool at Anfield, with Enzo Maresca taking the bold decision to drop Enzo Fernandez, although the Italian hasn’t ruled out all three playing together.
The 20-year-old put in a brilliant performance and kept his place in the side for the win against Newcastle on Sunday and it appears alongside Moises Caicedo the duo are Maresca’s preferred pairing.
Lavia is just one of a number of brilliant young talents at Chelsea, but he really looks like he has everything to be a top midfield player for many years to come.
Former Spurs boss Sherwood is a big a fan of Lavia and believes the midfielder is “incredible” and will be a great player for Chelsea.
“Lavia for me is going to be top drawer,” he told the Seaman Says podcast.
“Top, top class midfield player. I think he’s incredible. Every time he gets the ball he just looks to see where Cole [Palmer] is.”
It’s hard to disagree and a fully fit Lavia really is a game changer and he brings a really nice balance to the midfield alongside Caicedo.
Given his injury issues he’s being managed carefully by Maresca to give him the best chance of staying fit for as much of the season as possible, which is what all Chelsea fans want.
