“He’s A Quality Player” – Chelsea Star Given Ringing Endorsement By Zinedine Zidane
France head coach Zinedine Zidane praised Chelsea midfielder Romeo Lavia after witnessing his performance for Belgium earlier this week.
The 22-year-old produced an outstanding assist for Dodi Lukebakio to open the scoring at the Stade De France before Les Bleus roared back to win 4-1.
Speaking about Lavia following the game, Zidane was full of admiration after seeing the goal back:
“I really liked his pass [for Belgium’s opener] watched it again in the changing room at half-time, during the analysis. He’s a quality player. But he’s not the only one in the Belgian team.”
Has Lavia finally conquered his injury woes?
It’s probably best to be cautious when it comes to the Belgian’s fitness. There have been several false dawns in the past.
However, Lavia played 190 minutes across 4 games during the international break, and he was also able to start four league games in a row at the start of the season for Chelsea, prior to being benched for the 3-0 defeat to Brentford.
Chelsea will be hoping to field their best midfield pairing soon
Speaking exclusively to Chelsea News a few weeks ago, Sky Sports commentator Alan Smith made a point of saying that manager Xabi Alonso would have earmarked Lavia and Moises Caicedo as his “first choice” midfield pairing.
Unfortunately, due to Caicedo’s calf injury, the two players have not played a minute of football together so far this season. Caicedo actually replaced Lavia against Brighton in his only appearance.
In another exclusive, former Chelsea winger Shuan Wright-Phillips has said that Caicedo’s return to fitness will be “massive” for Alonso and Chelsea. Read more from our interview here.
You do feel that Lavia and Caicedo’s presence on the pitch will strengthen the Blues defensively. Alonso has spoken out to say that it is an area that needs to be improved, with his team having conceded 12 goals in only 5 league matches.