Cole Palmer has backed Romeo Lavia to succeed in a Chelsea shirt despite a horror debut campaign at Stamford Bridge.
Lavia, 20, joined the Blues for £53million last summer following an impressive season at Southampton in the Premier League. However, the Belgian had to wait over four months to make his debut due to injury and fitness concerns, coming off the bench for 32 minutes against Crystal Palace in December.
That cameo had seen supporters call for Lavia to be thrown into the starting XI for their next game. However, Lavia picked up a hamstring issue after making it on to the pitch and has not featured since. Chelsea confirmed back in March that he would miss the rest of the season after a fresh setback in his recovery.
Nearly a year on from his move to west London and Chelsea fans have not yet seen the best of the midfielder, but are hoping incoming boss Enzo Maresca can bring the best out of him. Although Lavia has not shown his capabilities since his move, Palmer is backing him to shine when he is back.
Palmer told SPORTbible: "One person I've played with [who's good] is Romeo Lavia. We've not seen him this season because he's been injured for a full year.
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"But I think he's on that, when he gets playing, everyone will think 'he's really good'."
Following the dismissal of Mauricio Pochettino last month, Chelsea are still searching for their new permanent manager. Despite this, Leicester boss Maresca has emerged as the leading contender and is set to take over in the coming days, with the Italian signing a five-year contract.
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Enzo Maresca has signed a five-year deal at Chelsea (Getty Images)Maresca joined the Foxes last summer after being No.2 to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City and he managed to guide the East Midlands side back to the Premier League at the first time of asking, playing an attractive possession-based brand of football. Leicester finished top on 97 points from their 46 league matches.
As for Pochettino, he had helped the club to a sixth-place finish, a six position improvement from last season and a return to Europe following a season out. However, the Argentine was given his marching orders after beating Bournemouth on the final day of the campaign.
"Thank you to the Chelsea ownership group and sporting directors for the opportunity," Pochettino said after he departed the club. The club is now well positioned to keep moving forward in the Premier League and Europe in the years to come."
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