Chelsea suffer fresh €60m transfer BLOW
Cameron Smith
- 11 Sept 2023 12:53 BST
- 4 min read
Chelsea have been dealt a fresh blow as €62.1 million summer signing Romeo Lavia is set to miss at least six weeks of action after injuring his ankle in training last week.
Lavia, 19, joined Chelsea from Southampton on 18 August, but is yet to make the matchday squad for his new team after missing a large portion of pre-season due to his transfer saga.
However, his Blues debut is set to be delayed until November after initial tests revealed the Belgian has suffered ligament damage and will be sidelined for at least a month and a half.
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Lavia rolled his ankle during team training on Thursday and had the blow scanned the following day, which revealed the delay to his debut could be substantial.
He could return by the end of October, but given Chelsea will likely want to act with caution, Lavia may not take to the field in a dark blue shirt until November.
Lavia, who has one senior Belgium cap, will miss Chelsea’s five matches before the October international break and could well be sidelined for their clash against London rivals Arsenal on 21 October too.
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The former Manchester City midfielder became Chelsea’s 11th most expensive signing in history this summer, despite only having 36 senior club games under his belt.
Chelsea’s injury list
Chelsea’s injury list is already extensive, with the Blues yet again suffering major set-backs, similar to last season. Wesley Fofana is out for the majority of the campaign after rupturing his ACL in pre-season, while Christopher Nkunku will be missing until December after also suffering a knee injury in pre-season.
Reece James, Benoit Badiashile, Carney Chukwuemeka, Trevoh Chalobah, Armando Broja and Marcus Bettinelli are also currently injured, although Broja is expected to return very soon.
However, Mauricio Pochettino will have been boosted by news that Mykhailo Mudryk’s injury scare is not serious. He was substituted in Ukraine’s 1-1 draw against England after signalling a calf injury, but he took part in their latest training session to dispel any doubts over his fitness.
