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Theo Walcott believes former Southampton team-mate Romeo Lavia should have joined Liverpool instead of Chelsea.
It is almost a year to the day since Lavia completed a £58m move to Stamford Bridge, joining the Blues from relegated Southampton.
The 20-year-old put pen to paper on a staggering seven-year contract but barely played last season after suffering with injury problems.
Lavia will hope to revive his Chelsea career this season, having featured heavily under Mauricio Pochettino’s replacement Enzo Maresca in pre-season, though Walcott remains concerned for his ex team-mate.
The ex-England winger even believes Lavia should have snubbed Chelsea in favour of a move to Liverpool, who also made bids to sign him from Southampton.
‘He’s a very talented footballer,’ Walcott said on BBC Radio 5 Live. ‘He trained his heart out, probably trained too much. He had a serious injury and obviously missed a whole year.
‘There were talks of him going to Chelsea or Liverpool, and I thought, right, as a player, this is perfect.
‘Liverpool would be the perfect club for right now because the midfield was rebuilding at that particular time.
‘Players can, of course, make their choice, but as a career path, he’s stagnated a little bit.
‘The new manager [Maresca] has come in, he’s brought in Dewsbury-Hall, you’ve got Conor Gallagher – similar players to some extent.
‘With the number of players they are signing, good players just won’t get a chance. They just won’t be seen at Chelsea.
‘They’ll be sent out on loan to lower league clubs and not appear. I am worried Romeo Lavia will just be one of those Chelsea players that will just be gone, and you won’t hear much about.’
Palmer impressed by Lavia
While Lavia is yet to justify his price-tag at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea team-mate Cole Palmer has backed the midfielder to show his class when fully fit and firing.
‘One person I’ve played with [who is good] is Romeo Lavia,’ the Premier League young player of the season told SPORTbible shortly before the start of Euro 2024.
‘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”.’
Chelsea impressed towards the end of last season to finish sixth in the Premier League, five points outside the Champions League places and 28 points behind Manchester City.
Maresca’s reign as Blues boss begins on Sunday when the defending champions, bidding to win an unprecedented fifth straight title, visit Stamford Bridge.
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