Many expected newly captured midfielder Romeo Lavia to make his debut for Chelsea last weekend against West ham after he completed his move from Southampton for £58m, but that wasn’t possible as Mauricio Pochettino surprisingly didn’t include him into the match day squad for that game.
According to the Chelsea boss, Lavia wasn’t ready at that time and he still isn’t to make his debut this Friday when the Blues face Luton Town.
“He is not quite ready yet and needs a few weeks before he will be involved.” Pochettino said while speaking to the media on Thursday.
“He’s conditioning now and working hard to catch up with the rest of the team. We need to wait a couple of weeks before he’s ready.”
Lavia was hugely impressive last season in a poor Southampton team that suffered relegation from the Premier League.
Lavia caught the attention of several top clubs with his performances, with Liverpool seeing three bids rejected for him this summer before he moved to Stamford Bridge.
When fit and ready to play for Chelsea, he will battle for a starting spot with fellow new signing Moises Caicedo, Enzo Fernandez, Andrey Santos and Conor Gallagher.
Caicedo had a nightmare debut against West Ham as he came on for the last 30 minutes to concede a penalty in his side’s 3-1 loss to West Ham.
