Cole Palmer believes people will really see how good forgotten man Romeo Lavia is next season, with the Belgian missing virtually the entire last campaign through injury.
Whilst Palmer couldn’t have dreamt of a better season, things couldn’t have gone much worse for Lavia following his summer move from relegated Southampton.
The Blues beat off competition from Liverpool to sign Lavia in a deal worth £58m, but the midfielder only played 32 minutes in his debut campaign at Stamford Bridge.
Palmer believes people will see how good Lavia is next season
There were high expectations for Lavia upon his arrival in west London, following an impressive season where he stood out for a struggling Southampton side, particularly in both games against Chelsea, as the Saints completed a double over the Blues in the 2022/2023 campaign.
The Belgian will hope to play a much more prominent role next season under incoming boss Enzo Maresca, who he worked with at the Manchester City academy.
Palmer and Lavia played together under Maresca in the City academy where the Italian guided the under-21 side to the Premier League 2 title for the first time in the club’s history.
The Blues have a squad full of young talent, but star man Palmer has picked out Lavia as one to watch next season.
“One person I’ve played with [who is good] is Romeo Lavia,” Palmer told Sport Bible.
“We’ve not seen him this season 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 want to put last season behind him quickly, and will be desperate to show Chelsea fans what he is capable of, and perhaps Maresca, a manager who knows him well will be able to extract the best out of the talented 20-year-old.