Romeo Lavia's physio has admitted his bemusement at the Chelsea star's streak of bad fortune with injuries. David Bombeke, founder of physiotherapy company Rev.Training, has lent his expertise to both the Belgian midfielder and Chelsea to help keep the 21-year-old in peak condition.
However, Lavia's continued plight with muscular injuries has left even Bombeke at a loss for words. After joining Chelsea from Southampton in August 2023 in a deal worth £53million, Lavia managed only one Premier League outing in his initial season at Stamford Bridge, clocking a mere 22 minutes on the field.
This campaign, he's clocked up just 11 appearances in England's top tier, recently coming off the bench in the narrow 1-0 loss at Arsenal as he stages his comeback. Speaking to the Belgian publication HLN, Bombeke said: "A one-off serious injury is also a setback of course but this, he rolls from injury to injury and has been out for a long time a few times. Then questions gradually arise.
"Given the circumstances, he's dealing with it well. Of course, something like that gets into your head, but Romeo realises that it can be solved. He doesn't see it fatalistically - this is going to stop one day, right?"
After being sidelined for five matches during the Christmas period due to a hamstring issue, Lavia was finally able to make his return in Chelsea's 2-2 draw with Bournemouth in January. However, he suffered another injury setback and was sidelined for the next six league fixtures. Despite that, there's growing optimism that the former Manchester City youth prodigy will return to aid Chelsea's push for a Champions League spot and Conference League success.
Enzo Maresca recently explained the situation, particularly referencing the Belgian's progress: "Last year he played one game and this year he has played around 15 games. If we see it that way then it is an improvement. More or less the same thing happened with Wes [Fofana]. Last year he played zero games and this year he was always playing.
"You cannot go from one season where you play no games to the next playing 40 games. You have to be happy with 20-25 and probably the year after you can play 40."
Maresca added: "For Romeo I feel sad for him because I know he wants to be part of the game every weekend but unfortunately he is injured again. But hopefully he can be back and help us in the last games of the season because we have just 16 games of the season left and we hope to have Romeo back for the last 10."
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Chelsea flag prior the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final Leg One match between Chelsea FC and Real Madrid at Stamford Bridge. (Photo by Jose Breton/Pics Action/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
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