Romeo Lavia: Chelsea star hit with new injury as four pre-season absences explained | OneFootball

Belgian struck down with yet another hamstring problem

Romeo Lavia missed Chelsea’s pre-season opener with minor hamstring discomfort, Xabi Alonso has confirmed.

Some 22 Chelsea players got minutes in the legs as the Blues edged a topsy-turvy friendly encounter with Western Sydney Wanderers 6-4, but Lavia was not among them.

The midfielder signed for Chelsea from Southampton in 2023 but has struggled for fitness since and is yet to play a full 90-minute match for the club. Persistent hamstring problems limited him to just 21 appearances in all competitions last season.

And the same problem appears to have reared its head again as Alonso confirmed a new hamstring issue ruled him out of Tuesday’s match at the Accor Stadium.

Chelsea’s new manager said Lavia “felt something in his hamstring” and he decided it “was not worth taking a risk.” It is hoped he can return in time to face Tottenham on Saturday.

It remains to be seen whether he will feature in that match, though, as his dismal injury record might push the club to treat him with kid gloves for the remainder of pre-season.

Chelsea came through the Western Sydney match with no fresh injury issues despite playing on a dreadful, patchy pitch which had hosted three rugby league matches over the weekend.

Lavia was not the only absentee in the squad on matchday, though, with Filip Jorgensen, Jorrel Hato and Mamadou Sarr all left out.

Jorgensen missed the match in Sydney as he was on a flight back to Europe to complete a transfer to Chelsea’s sister club Strasbourg.

Hato and Sarr, meanwhile, were deemed to be lacking match fitness and played no part.