Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca has confirmed that Romeo Lavia will be included in the squad for their Premier League match against Brighton on Saturday.
The midfielder, who made a £53 million move to Chelsea from Southampton, spent nearly the entire last season sidelined due to a thigh injury.
After impressing during pre-season, Lavia’s progress was again hampered by a hamstring issue sustained in a match against Servette in the Conference League.
Enzo Maresca has now announced that the 20-year-old is fit and ready to contribute as Chelsea prepare to face the unbeaten Seagulls.
“Romeo is available for tomorrow,” said the Blues boss on Friday.
Asked if the Belgian international could start, Maresca added: “We’ll see.
“We have one more session now and then we’ll decided but the important thing is finally he’s back.”
Reece James will miss the upcoming game as he is still in recovery from a hamstring injury.
When asked if there was simply no update on the Chelsea captain, Maresca said: “Yeah, exactly.”
Malo Gusto made his return from injury in the 5-0 Carabao Cup victory over Barrow, with his substitution at half-time pre-planned as a precaution.
The head coach faces a positive selection dilemma in the attacking positions, with both Nicolas Jackson and Christopher Nkunku impressing in recent weeks.
Jackson scored twice in our last Premier League match against West Ham, while Nkunku netted a brilliant hat-trick to help us secure a victory over Barrow in the Carabao Cup.
Maresca has confirmed that he will choose between the two to lead the line but also mentioned that he has several other important decisions to make due to a number of standout performances this week.
“It will be between one of Nico and Christo,” Enzo added.
“They are both playing very well for us.
“But it is not just them, there are many players that did well [against Barrow] in the week.
“Pedro [Neto] did well the other day, Misha [Mudryk] did well. All of them, in fact.
“In defence, Benoit [Badiashile] did well, also Axel [Disasi] and Renato [Veiga] and also Cesare [Casadei] – I thought he did a fantastic game the other day.
“It’s important when there is a chance, be it five minutes, 10 minutes, half-an-hour or from the start, that the players give everything, so it’s important.”
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