Chelsea have received a welcome boost ahead of their Premier League clash with Brentford, with both Romeo Lavia and Benoit Badiashile pictured back in first-team training.
Lavia has been sidelined with a muscle problem since Chelsea’s Club World Cup victory over Benfica back in June, the latest in a long list of injuries for the 21-year-old midfielder.
The Belgium international, of course, sat out the entirety of the 2023/24 campaign after sustaining a serious hamstring injury in a nightmare debut against Crystal Palace.
Badiashile is also yet to see a single minute of action this term due to an undisclosed niggle, but it appears both players are gradually closing in on their respective comebacks.
Like Lavia, Badiashile last featured for the Blues in their 4-1 defeat of Benfica in the States – and Enzo Maresca will no doubt be hoping the France defender is able to make a speedy return to full match fitness.
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While a large proportion of Chelsea’s first-team squad are currently away on international duty, Lavia and Badiashile were among those pictured in group training on Tuesday, along with the likes of Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Enzo Fernandez and summer arrival Alejandro Garnacho.
Chelsea will look to take a cautious approach with both Lavia and Badiashile and it appears unlikely either player will be thrown straight in away to Brentford on Saturday night.
Maresca will be expected to provide some clarity when he faces the media later in the week.
The Chelsea head coach could, though, hand debuts to both Garnacho and Facundo Buonanotte, who joined from Manchester United and Brighton respectively towards the end of the window.
However, fellow summer signing Dario Essugo has emerged as a serious doubt for the match after picking up a knock while away the Portugal Under-21 side.
After Chelsea’s 2-0 defeat of Fulham, Maresca played down the possibility that the club’s busy summer schedule may have been a factor in their injury-hit start to the season.
‘I said before the season started that, unfortunately, I don’t have any answer, because it’s the first time that you have a competition during the summer, so you don’t know,’ the Italian told reporters.
‘I don’t know. Not me, no sports science, not any doctor can help us to say we’re going to have this problem or this problem. We don’t know.
‘It’s something new and, unfortunately, it happened. I said yesterday in the press conference, I think it’s not random that Levi [Colwill], Moises [Caicedo], Cole [Palmer], and Liam [picked up knocks]. It is what it is.’
Chelsea sit second in the Premier League table ahead of their trip to Brentford, with Maresca’s men bouncing back from a disappointing goalless draw with Crystal Palace to beat London rivals West Ham and Fulham.
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