Who is Romeo Lavia

At age 20 you are already one of the best players in the hardest role in football, your ability to absorb pressure and dance your way pass players is not only aesthetically pleasing but effective for how your coach wants to play. Your name is Romeo Lavia.

Romeo Lavia is football player, who plays for Chelsea at the club level and Belgium at the international level.

Early Life

Romeo Lavia grew up in Brussels, Belgium and Europe’s capital— the latter name was given because the city is host to NATO’s headquarters. The youngster is a first generation immigrant, his parents are of Ghanaian descent though his mother has Congolese origins.

It was reported that Lavia grew up with his brother Henri, Cousin Mario and Nephew Mathieu.

Lavia isn’t the only youngster of Ghanaian descent playing for Belgium, Jeremy Doku is also one of Ghanaian descent.

He began the early stage of his career at SC. Woluwe.

Personal Life

Romeo Lavia has kept his personal life private, avoiding any controversies

Club Career

Lavia started out in one of Belgium’s top clubs’ academies at the age of 8, his rise from the academy to top flight football is somewhat fairytale as he was scouted by Pep Guardiola. The Spanish genius noticed him when he was invited to watch a youth tournament game, the KDB cup organized by Kevin Debruyne.

Lavia joined Manchester City at age sixteen, he signed his professional contract with the cityzens joining the U18s where his fairy tale rise continued. He played only 8 games for the U18s before he was promoted to the U23s because of his standout performances. He did not slow down as he helped City’s EDS sided to a Premier League 2 championship victory whilst being voted as the best player in the league.

Lavia officially joined Manchester City first team for the 2021/2022 season, he made the UCL squad for that season too. His debut came in an EFL cup game against Wycombe Wanderers — he showed sparks of the kind of player he could be. He also got a yellow in the game.

Romeo Lavia and Mateo Kovacic — LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 18: Romeo Lavia of Chelsea during the Premier League match between Chelsea FC and Manchester City FC at Stamford Bridge on August 18, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images)

As a recurring theme with young academy players under Pep Guardiola, Lavia could not get playing time so he left City and joined Southampton on a Five year contract in July 2022 with a buy back clause from City pegged at £40 million and a 20 percent sell-on clause.

With the Saints Lavia quickly cemented his place as a first team player. Though his debut did not go as he would have wanted as his team suffered a 4-1 loss at the hands of Tottenham but his overall performance was laudable. That will be the base of his time at Southampton: incredible individual and record-breaking performances like being the first 18 years old to score a goal in the Premier League for the 2022/2023 season; the only teenager to have more than 50 tackles and a 7.8 bal recovery; the only under-21 player to lead in tackles, interceptions and blocked shots in the 2022/2023 season.

Meanwhile, his team was struggling to get results which eventually led to their relegation to the championship.

Lavia’s short stint at Southampton caught the eyes of Premier League tool clubs as Chelsea and Liverpool were racing to get his signature. He rejected Liverpool because he felt like a backup option and was not sure of first team football— coincidentally his fellow midfielder at Chelsea, Moises Caicedo rejected Liverpool that same season.

In August 2023 He penned down a seven year contract with the blues. He was bought for an initial fee of £53 million plus add-ons.

He had a slow start (literally) at Chelsea as the Blues then manager Mauricio Pochentinno observed that he needed a few weeks to be ready to be involved in a game. This turned out to be a precursor for unfortunate events that happened to Lavia over the course of the 2023/2024 season. Days before he was meant to make his debut for the West London club he suffered from a muscle injury. While recovering he suffered another injury to his ankle which kept him on the sidelines until 27th December 2023 in a game against Crystal Palace where he came in as a substitute. This will turn out to be Lavai’s only appearance in the season. His manager also disclosed that he was injured during the game against Crystal Palace.

Lavia was injured for over 286 days during the course of the 2023/2024 season.

The next season was better for the Belgian youngster as he made his first starting appearance for Chelsea against his former club Man City. He was incredible in that game with a 97 percent passing accuracy and one big chance created. However, he suffered from a hamstring injury keeping him on the sidelines for a month.

International Career

Lavia is eligible to represent Ghana and Belgium, the youngster opted to represent his country of birth. His appearances for the Belgium national team across different levels have been few and far between, he made a solitary appearance apiece for both under 15 and under16

His first appearance for the senior National Team was a Euro ‘24 qualifying match against Sweden

Achievements

Lavia is still young and is expected to win more trophies as his career progresses, he is yet to win a major trophy at the senior level but he has won numerous trophies with Manchester City’s under 18 and under 23 teams. His personal achievements ( and awards) are almost non existent but that is expected to change soon.

Net Worth And Endorsement

Romeo Lavia’s Average salary at Chelsea is $2,340,000 which is an impressible sum for a youngster. He has no publicly announced brand endorsement(s).

Style of Play

You could throw Romeo Lavia into a burning house and ask him to find the safest exit, he is not going to flinch or panic. He will calmly absorb the pressure, weave through the hurdles and get out unscathed. That is how press resistant Lavia is. He is arguably the most press resistant DM currently in Europe. Lavia is Busquests regen but with more physicality and less quality of passing.