“Long way to go” – Latest injury news makes Chelsea’s January look even worse | OneFootball

Romeo Lavia is not only a player who gets injured a lot, he’s also a player who seems to get mysterious interminable problems which are hard to put a date on.

Last season we were constantly seeing his return date pushed back until the club finally gave up and shut him down for the season. That extended break didn’t do him much good – he’s been in and out of the team all year in his second campaign at Chelsea too, and this latest issue he’s picked up has now been dragging on in a similar fashion.

Lack of clarity over Lavia issues creates extra tension

Romeo Lavia in action for Chelsea against Bournemouth. (Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty)

We never seem to get a straight answer on what’s wrong with him or when he will be back. Today, Enzo Maresca was asked for an update on the midfielder and replied:

“No [there is no update]. Romeo is still in the process to come back but there’s still a long way to go.”

That really gives us no clue. Lavia was taken off at half time of our win over Spurs two months ago, and then returned to play 45 minutes in the FA Cup at the start of January. That seemed to go well and he played against Bournemouth a few days later, only to go off in the second half of that game too.

We thought it was a question of easing him back into action, but after Lavia missed the next game against Wolves entirely, Maresca explained he had a new issue.

“Muscular problems, muscle issues” was the only update we got. Since then… nothing until today. This is presumably a continuation of that problem – but was this problem a continuation of the issue from December?

The whole thing is immensely frustrating, and we’d appreciate at least a little more clarity on what’s up.