Mauricio Pochettino confirms extent of Romeo Lavia injury
- Lavia is yet to make his debut for Chelsea after big-money move from Southampton
- The Belgian teenager suffered an ankle injury during training last week
- Mauricio Pochettino confirms club waiting for results from scan
By Tom Gott
Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed that Romeo Lavia suffered a twisted ankle in training last week, with the club awaiting doctor's results in regards to the severity of the problem.
The £58m signing from Southampton is yet to make his debut for Chelsea after arriving short of match fitness, and Lavia was kept out of the Belgium squad for the recent international break to give him more time to train.
Unfortunately, Lavia limped out of a training session last week after suffering an ankle injury which reports suggested could keep the 19-year-old out of action for a further six weeks.
"We are really disappointed because he was training really well last week in the international break," Pochettino said when asked for an update on Lavia. "He twisted his ankle and now we are waiting for the results on Monday from the doctor. We hope it's not a big issue but in the last week he has not been training with the team.
"It's a sad situation because he was nearly fit to be involved again with the team. Yes, now we need to wait and hopefully it's not a big issue for him and the team of course."
Pushed on whether the six-week estimate is accurate, he added: "We don't know because we need to assess him. He twisted his ankle and now we need to assess him. We do not know the time for him to recover."
Lavia is one of a number of Chelsea players who are currently sidelined through injury, with Pochettino offered updates on several of his unavailable stars.
Beginning with Reece James, Pochettino explained: "He's recovering well. I don't know if he's close or not because we assess him every single day but he's started to do things on the pitch with the ball. He's really well.
"He's desperate to play for the team. Yes, I hope it's close, also so he can be available before the next international break."
Centre-back Benoit Badiashile is back in training but not yet ready for a competitive return, and the same goes for striker Armando Broja despite claims from the Albanian FA that he could be back as soon as this weekend.
"Who said that? Who at the Albanian FA? The coach? The president? I didn't hear. It's not [true]," Pochettino stressed. "Not yet."
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