Manchester City fans never really got to see what Romeo Lavia was all about.
The midfielder is at Chelsea these days, having transferred to the club last year from Southampton.
Last season, Lavia made just one appearance for the club as his campaign was wrecked by injuries.
It was a real shame for the Belgian dynamo, who had really impressed at Southampton. But he is now fit again and raring to go in 2024/25.
He will be determined to prove why so much money was spent on him – £58 million to be precise.
One wonders if Lavia will live up to his billing at Stamford Bridge. Many had tipped him to become a potential star at City, but the youngster couldn’t quite make the grade.
Lavia has actually been speaking about his time at the Etihad, and shared details of a conversation he had with Pep Guardiola just before he was sold to Southampton.
Romeo Lavia felt ‘ready to play’ at Man City, but claims Pep Guardiola told him he needed to develop
City picked Lavia up from Anderlecht, after he was spotted at a local international youth tournament for players under the age of 15, called the KDB Cup.
He was actually spotted by Pep himself. The Spaniard was there after being invited by Kevin De Bruyne, who is a co-organiser of the tournament.
Lavia was snapped up by City and for a while, there was a decent level of hype around him. He stood out for the U18s and was quickly promoted to the U23s.
He was named Player of the Season for PL2 in April 2021.
But Lavia only ended up making two first-team appearances for City and in 2022, he was sold to Southampton in a deal worth around £14 million in total.
Lavia has touched on his exit from City in a new interview, and he feels he was actually ready to make the step up. But Pep did not particularly share his view.
He told BBC Sport: “It was not a hard decision simply because I felt I was ready to play.”
“I had a good conversation with the manager at the time and he said: ‘Listen, you’re young and you need to develop.’ He was honest about it.
“I felt like I could play and it was just about looking for the best opportunities to get to that stage as fast as possible.”
Lavia could thrive at Chelsea
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There are probably young players at City now who feel the same as Lavia felt back then. That they are ready to play.
But Pep obviously knows best, and not everyone will make it into his first-team. That said, it is not impossible to make it from the academy, with Rico Lewis, Oscar Bobb, James McAtee and Nico O’Reilly paving the way in more recent times.
Lavia didn’t quite have enough to force his way in. But he went on to do very well at Southampton and got himself his big move to Chelsea.
Injuries wrecked his first season, so he will be determined to shine this time around. He could well really impress if he is able to stay fit.
Moises Caicedo is an excellent partner and then there is Enzo Fernandez who is another great player. lavia in there with those two has the makings of a top-class midfield.
Hopefully it works out for him.
