Chelsea midfielder Romeo Lavia has shut down rumours suggesting that he had sustained another injury setback in pre-season.
Lavia completed a £53million move from Southampton to Stamford Bridge last summer and had to wait until December to make his first-team debut against Crystal Palace due to a frustrating ankle problem.
But Mauricio Pochettino confirmed after Chelsea’s 2-1 win over Palace that Lavia had suffered another devastating setback, this time a hamstring injury, and it would prove to be the 20-year-old’s one and only appearance last season.
Lavia has spent the intervening period in rehabilitation, gradually edging his way back to full match fitness in a bid to make himself available for the start of the 2024/25 campaign.
Pictures last week showed Lavia back in first-team training for the first time with the rest of his team-mates, under the watchful eye of newly appointed head coach Enzo Maresca.
However, rumours on social media earlier today suggested Lavia had picked up yet another injury while playing in a behind-closed-doors friendly for the Blues at Cobham.
This afternoon, though, Lavia took to X to rubbish the online speculation before hitting out at the ‘shameless’ fans spreading fake news ‘for a few likes’.
‘Weirdos honestly!’ Lavia told his followers.
‘Take care of your family first before coming on here to spread fake news about a boy’s health.
‘All that for a few likes. Shameless.’
Speaking to SPORTbible last month, Cole Palmer backed Lavia to take the Premier League by storm when he makes his a long-awaited return from his injury nightmare.
‘One person I’ve played with [who is good] is Romeo Lavia,’ the Chelsea and England attacker told SPORTbible.
‘We’ve not seen him because he’s been injured for a full year but I think he’s one that, when he gets playing everyone will think, “Oh, he’s really good”.’
Lavia will no doubt be desperate to play a part when Chelsea get their Premier League campaign underway at home to Manchester City, the reigning champions, in a month’s time.
The Belgian joined City as a 16-year-old from Anderlecht and made two appearances for the club before completing a permanent switch to Southampton in 2022.
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