Chelsea have discovered how much time Romeo Lavia will miss after losing the midfielder to yet another injury setback. Lavia was forced off after just four minutes of their Champions League draw against Qarabag, with manager Enzo Maresca subsequently admitting that the Blues are "ashamed" about the amount of time their big-money has spent on the sidelines since joining from Southampton in 2023.
Lavia out for a month for Chelsea
Chelsea will have to cope without Lavia for another month following his latest injury setback, according toThe midfielder will therefore miss games against Burnley, Arsenal, Leeds and Bournemouth in the Premier League. He's also expected to sit out the Champions League fixtures against Barcelona and Atalanta due to the quadricep problem. Lavia has been plagued by injury issues since joining the club in a £58 million transfer and those struggles have continued into the current campaign. He has made just seven appearances for the Blues so far this season, and fans will now have to wait until December to see him back in action for Maresca's side.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportMaresca 'ashamed' of injury record
Lavia has made only 29 appearances in total over two years with Chelsea, leaving Maresca to admit the club are "ashamed" by his frequent injuries. "We feel very ashamed, especially for him, because he's not able to be fit for a long, long period," Maresca said after Chelsea's clash with Qarabag. "It's not a recurrence of his hamstring problem; it looks like a quad injury. We'll need to assess him further, but it doesn't look good."
Lavia's injury hell at Chelsea
Lavia's injury record at Chelsea does make for dismal reading. The midfielder has sustained 10 injuries and been out for a total of 568 days, missing 88 games, since Chelsea invested heavily to bring him in from Southampton back in 2023. Rather incredibly, Lavia is still yet to complete a full 90 minutes for Chelsea and his latest injury is yet another in a long list of setbacks for the 21-year-old. Chelsea have reportedly tried to manage his workload in a bid to get him fit and featuring on a regular basis but even that does not appear to have worked, with Lavia once again on the sidelines at Stamford Bridge.
'My body let me down' – Lavia lifts lid on injury jinx
Lavia has previously spoken about the injuries he's had to contend with at Chelsea and has been unable to put his finger on the problem. He told: "You're young and you want to play. You're getting to know your body as well, which is sometimes unfair because you feel like you’re doing everything right to get back but then nature sometimes decides in a different way. It was just about understanding that and growing as a person. It was frustrating but it was more in the head, and now it has helped me. Injuries can happen. I'd say that it was unlucky and I tried to catch up every time. My body let me down a couple of times because I felt like I was doing everything right. I wouldn't blame anything."