Romeo Lavia hints at a better Chelsea team
The midfielder's sporadic cameos offer glimpses of a better functioning timeline
Romeo Lavia perfectly fits the hypothetical era of Chelsea in 2025.
There are hypothetical ideas of what Chelsea could be if the club’s grand “project” was to come to fruition. If their rookie head coach could blossom into the next Pep Guardiola. And more common amongst supporters, if talented players could remain fit.
Lavia falls into the final category. One that has included a list of regretful tales across the last five years. These include the misfortune of Reece James, the continued breakdown of N’Golo Kante before his exit, the sliding doors ACL of Ben Chilwell and the fragility of Wesley Fofana.
We have all become very used to the conversation of what Chelsea could be if said player remains fit. The problem is, those hopes have remained fanciful whilst reality has shown us something bleaker.
Lavia has barely played for Chelsea since signing from Southampton for a reported £58m fee in August of 2023.
The number of minutes played are much closer to the one on the back of his shirt than the club would have hoped. It was actually less in 2023/24, completing a staggeringly low 32 in the second half of a win over Crystal Palace in December 2023. Missing the rest through an ankle and hamstring injury made his first season a non-event. It is reflective of the frequent change at Chelsea that by the time he made his first Premier League start for the club in August of 2024, there was a new head coach in Enzo Maresca.
Compared to last season, Lavia’s minutes this season are significantly up, reaching 663 at the time of writing, although that misses out the context of 22 missed games through a hamstring and thigh injury.
Lavia has only completed 90 minutes 15 times in his entire senior career, none for Chelsea so far. The longest he has remained on the pitch for the Blues was in a 3-0 win over Aston Villa in December last year (86 minutes). It was of great surprise against Everton that he lasted over an hour given Maresca’s extreme caution over his fitness.
"When he is fit, he is one of the best midfielders. He can defend very well, he can attack, he can break the line and pass between the lines. I spent one entire season with Romeo when I was Under-23 coach at Manchester City, so I know him very well. For us, it was like Reece James. They are both top players.
The only shame for us is that unfortunately we need to manage them. We need to protect them, but there is no doubt that Chelsea with Reece and Romeo is a better team." - Enzo Maresca
The fitness concern should not be dismissed as unfair or hyperbole. However, they paint a bleak picture when the reality of Lavia when he has played is actually very positive.
Saturday’s latest cameo offered more evidence of the Belgian’s potential. Gliding around the sun-soaked turf with ease, looking technically sound and proactive enough to produce forward passes that feel refreshing amidst a mostly disappointing second half of the season.
Reaching 85% for accurate passes, creating 1 chance, passing the ball seven times into the final third, completing his 1 dribble and winning 100% of his three aerial duels.
Chelsea’s strong start that looked far more direct felt notable with Lavia present and Moises Caicedo filtering back into the hybrid right-back/central midfield role he so effectively fulfilled in Chelsea’s last impressive performance; the win over Villa in December.
A glance over Lavia’s numbers are naturally incomplete. With such small a sample size are never going to produce a convincing picture. Breaking it down to per 90 offer some bright spots. An over 91% passing accuracy, which needs to be contextualised by the risky passes Lavia does like to play through the lines.
72% for long ball accuracy and 0.15 assists, 1.18 in successful dribbles which gives him over 60% in dribble success. Defensively with over 83% of his aerial duels and 1.91 interceptions.
The difference of Chelsea’s midfield with and without Lavia is hard to ignore. Fans have quickly noticed the quickness and willingness to play passes instinctively, rather than the slower tempo that has frustrated the Chelsea faithful under Maresca since Christmas.
His presence also offers an added mobility and aggression to an area that has been accused of lacking it multiple times across this season. Adding further protection to Enzo Fernandez, who is given further license to venture closer to the six-yard box.
Credit for Lavia comes from his calmness under pressure. Gliding around incoming tackles to open up the pitch for Chelsea to hit on transition. This was most evident during his last start at the Bridge against Bournemouth in January.
Probably the last signs of the more direct approach, supporters came to love in the opening months of the campaign. Chelsea created multiple good looks at goal against a well-performing opponent and should have gone into half-time further ahead than the 1-0 scoreline suggested.
Lavia had just returned from a hamstring injury and managed to get through 56 minutes before breaking down again and not featuring until a late substitute appearance away to Arsenal in March.
It is hard to ignore to correlation between Lavia’s presence and Chelsea playing well. Albeit in defeat, his display alongside Caicedo at Anfield in October raised hope of a blossoming partnership. He played the majority of a win over Newcastle a week later, winning the ball back and setting Cole Palmer free for the winner in a tight game. Even his passing in a manic first half away to Spurs in December gained plaudits too.
The alternative timeline of Lavia not breaking down paints an optimistic picture. One where Chelsea’s build up looks more free-flowing, their aggression off-the-ball more sustained and benefit to peers higher up the pitch noteworthy.
There is a but.
Reality needs to be confronted. The reality is Lavia simply has not been available enough to either make a firmer judgement on his overall impact, or deem him a vital player. One of Chelsea’s biggest flaws in squad building/management has been leaning on the availability of consistently unavailable players.
The lack of quality options in central midfield was a growing concern during last summer and then became a crutch for Maresca during the season. Those issues will hopefully be soothed with the imminent return of Andrey Santos who has been a star at Strasbourg. Also welcoming the recent signing of Dario Essugo from Sporting Lisbon. Even Lesley Ugochukwu can be deemed a potential option when he returns from a season-long loan with Southampton.
Santos is a different profile of midfielder, excelling as a advanced attacking presence, with freedom to venture into the six-yard box. It would be either of Essugo and Ugochukwu that could hopefully provide adequate cover for Caicedo and Lavia.
These at the very least, offer more bodies for Chelsea that will hopefully alleviate the strain on Fernandez and Caicedo, who have had to take up the overwhelming bulk of minutes this term. In rotation, it will also hopefully mean Reece James can return to his natural right-back position.
However, the concern will be whether Lavia can shake off the injuries that have prevented his career at Chelsea from properly starting. And whether Chelsea, as they probably have now realized with Fofana, have to start mitigating the risk of injury, which may sound cruel but is only sensible.