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Romeo Lavia: Chelsea midfielder ruled out for the season as injury nightmare continues

Romeo Lavia: Chelsea midfielder ruled out for the season as injury nightmare continues

Chelsea midfielder Romeo Lavia has been ruled out for the season after a setback in his recovery.

The 20-year-old sustained a significant thigh injury on his debut for the club against Crystal Palace in December.

A club statement explained that the £53million signing from Southampton "will not feature again this season".

Lavia played just 32 minutes on his debut in the 2-1 win at Stamford Bridge, having been signed from under the noses of Liverpool in August.

He arrived lacking match fitness after a pre-season disrupted by transfer talks before suffering a major ankle injury back in September.

Lavia also missed two months of action during Southampton's relegation battle with hamstring issues last season.

Injuries continue to plague Mauricio Pochettino, with up to eight players out of the upcoming match against Burnley.

Christopher Nkunku, Reece James, Levi Colwill, Wesley Fofana and Lesley Ugochukwu remain absent from training after significant spells out injured.

Malo Gusto also returned from international duty with France Under-21s with a virus but is expected to be passed fit by Saturday.

Meanwhile, Carney Chukwuemeka also returned early having not played with England's U21s after suffering a knock.

Cole Palmer did, however, return as an unused substitute against Belgium, having missed the match against Brazil and several training sessions with England last week.