Romeo Lavia has described Chelsea legend Eden Hazard as like a “big brother” and revealed he goes to him when he needs advice.
Lavia joined Chelsea last summer from Southampton but endured a torrid campaign as injuries meant he played just 30 minutes of football all season.
The 20-year-old has worked hard to get himself back to fitness and will feel like a new signing for the Blues, giving them another quality option in the middle of the park.
Lavia on his relationship with Hazard
Having not played since last December the Belgian started all six of Chelsea’s pre-season games as Enzo Maresca built up his fitness and match sharpness.
Lavia was one of the positives from the tour of America as he displayed his quality and showed what the Blues had been missing in the middle of the park.
The midfielder could be set for a key role under Maresca and he’s in with a very good chance of starting his first game for the club against his former side Manchester City on Sunday.
Lavia will be hoping his injury issues are behind as he prepares to finally get his Chelsea career up and running, and in a recent interview he opened up on his relationship with Blues icon Hazard.
“He’s a great guy and like a big brother,” he told Football London.
“Whenever I need advice I go to him, you’ve all seen the video for the announcement but apart from that, he told me to get to know the club and then once you know more about the club, then you will love it.
“That will then make it easier on the pitch. And then he told me to be natural and be yourself, and make Belgium proud.”
Lavia will be competing with the likes of Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo for a place in midfield, but with the amount of games the Blues have this season he will likely have plenty of opportunities to play and show what he can do.
