Chelsea have been handed a boost as Romeo Lavia is set to return to the squad for Saturday’s match against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Lavia has been ruled out for the last five weeks with a hamstring injury he suffered in training. The 20-year-old made just one substitute appearance last season, after joining for an initial £53million from Southampton, due to a variety of injury issues.
The midfielder was Chelsea’s best player against Manchester City in a 2-0 defeat last month and his only other appearance was as a late substitute against Servette four days later.
“Romeo Lavia is available for tomorrow,” Maresca said. “We have one more session now and then we will decide (how much he can play). The most important thing is that finally he is back.”
Lavia’s presence will increase competition for places and give head coach Enzo Maresca the chance to play him instead of, or alongside, Moises Caicedo.
Caicedo joined Chelsea for a British record fee of £115m from Brighton last year and faces his former club at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League tomorrow.
The 22-year-old came under a lot of negative scrutiny for his performances in the first few months of his Chelsea career, but has been performing at a high level throughout 2024.
Maresca feels Caicedo can still get better but wants him to ignore all the talk about how much he cost.
“He is a top player, he is very good,” Maresca added. “But like all top players he can improve things and for sure he can improve. The way he is playing in this moment is fantastic.
“About the price it is not a Moi (Caicedo) problem, it is the market that decides the price. Most of the time because clubs pay a lot of money for players, we expect that kind of player to always be the best.
“It is not like this. Moi has to enjoy, has to play, work hard but the most important thing is he has to always be happy and enjoy football, to not think about the price because it is not his problem.”
(Julian Finney/Getty Images)
