Romeo Lavia says first year at Chelsea has “not been how I was expecting it to be” | OneFootball

A Chelsea midfielder has admitted that his first year at the club has not been what he was expecting it to be like after an up and down time.

Chelsea last season were not in a great place at all under Mauricio Pochettino after two years of turmoil, changes, and a bit of unrest and manager changes under the new ownership.

BIG EXCLUSIVE!! Chelsea exploring ambitious move to sign Manchester City centre back as well as watching TWO Benfica defenders!!

So the on pitch stuff was not great as a result, and many of the new players coming in were struggling to settle and make an impact.

But for Romeo Lavia, it was a different kind of struggle that he had to deal with.

The Belgian midfielder endured a frustrating first season as a Blue, sitting out most of 2023/24 through injury. This clearly took it’s toll on a young player, as you’d expect.

Lavia now making an impact

Lavia is expected to start today vs Newcastle

The Chelsea matchday programme for today’s game against Newcastle United features an exclusive interview with Romeo Lavia, in which you can see snippets of on the Chelsea website.

‘That whole year, it’s not been how I was expecting it to be,’ said the 20-year-old, ‘but I’m just happy because, without thinking about it, I’ve been at the club for a year so I know more about the culture, I know more about my team-mates, I know about everyone at the club.

‘So I feel much better going onto the pitch now because I have this confidence that I have people I trust around me, people that I enjoy being with, and that all just makes it easier.’

You will be able to read the full interview by grabbing a copy from the programme sellers around Stamford Bridge at the game, or order one online from our publications partner Reach Sport here.

Lavia apparently speaks about his time at Manchester City under Pep Guardiola and Enzo Maresca as well.