Lavia aims to change the narrative after his injury comeback

Romeo Lavia is having a different kind of season at Chelsea. The Belgian midfielder, who has started all four of the club’s Premier League matches this term, believes he is finally in a position to “change the narrative” around him after an injury-hit spell.

As BBC Sport reports, at 22 he is now close to his longest injury-free run with Chelsea. If he plays 60 minutes against Brentford on Friday, he will top his previous best of 518 minutes without injury — including pre-season.

A long process paying off

Lavia says his current stretch is the result of years of progress. He made only one appearance in his first season at Stamford Bridge because of a serious hamstring issue. The following campaign brought repeated setbacks and he missed 33 games, before improving availability last term by featuring in roughly half of Chelsea’s matches.

Now, with no setbacks through pre-season and the early weeks of this campaign, he also talks about the mental side of recovery. Lavia explained that the next step was learning not to become risk-averse again, and that manager Xabi Alonso challenged him to overcome the “mental block” of reaching a full 90 minutes in a pre-season match versus AC Milan in August.

Responsibility in a new Chelsea

Lavia has become a regular in Alonso’s midfield alongside club captain Reece James. BBC Sport also underlines why his impact has grown: Moises Caicedo has only logged 14 minutes so far this season, while Enzo Fernández moved to Manchester City for £125m on the final day of the transfer window.

Lavia wants to keep building. He speaks of embracing responsibility, calling it more like a “privilege” than pressure. He also points to Chelsea’s momentum in attack, where the squad have scored 18 goals in six games across all competitions — a run he says has helped everyone click, especially after the arrival of club-record signing Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa for £117m.

Still, Lavia insists the group must be realistic about what comes next. He wants to tick milestones and enjoy the journey, and he ties his current mindset to a personal moment: his first Chelsea goal, in a 4-3 win over Brighton, which he described as feeling “free” and helping him finally push for the story he wants to own.