Romeo Lavia is set to be out for at least one month with a quad injury, football.london understands, with Chelsea continuing to assess the midfielder.
The 21-year-old midfielder limped off inside the first 10 minutes of the Blues' draw with Qarabag last week in Azerbaijan with a quad problem. It was Lavia's seventh appearance of the season after he recovered from another muscular injury in late September.
It has been a really difficult time for the Belgian since he moved to Stamford Bridge in August 2023 from Southampton, with a total of 78 games missed due to injuries. Lavia is now set to be sidelined for a minimum of one month with his latest quad problem, with the club continuing to assess him.
If Lavia is on schedule, then his first game back could be the home clash with Everton on December 13, meaning he is set to miss six games between now and then due to the injury. Chelsea go to Burnley in their first game back from the international break before matches with Barcelona, Arsenal, Leeds United, Bournemouth and Atalanta - all of which Lavia is expected to sit out for.
It comes as a big blow for head coach Enzo Maresca, who was trying to manage Lavia's minutes in order to keep him fit for as long as possible. Speaking ahead of the weekend's win against Wolves at Stamford Bridge, Maresca said the club need to "insist" with Lavia until they find the right solution for the midfielder.
"It's a shame," the Italian said about Lavia's latest problem. "It's a shame in this moment also because we are trying to minimise minutes for him. But even with that, he's injured again. We need to insist until we find the right solution for him."
Elsewhere for Chelsea, Enzo Fernandez and Pedro Neto will get the international break to recover after the Blues duo pulled out of the Argentina and Portugal squad, respectively due to problems. Fernandez has been nursing a knee problem for a while and Neto suffered a groin injury in the win against his former club Wolves at the weekend.
