Mauricio Pochettino has confirmed that new signing Romeo Lavia will not make his Chelsea debut for “a few weeks” as he catches up with the rest of his new teammates.
Lavia, a £58m signing from Southampton, played a limited role in the Saints’ pre-season and did not play more than 45 minutes in any one game.
Having also been left out of the squad for Southampton’s opening Championship game, Lavia is behind his teammates when it comes to match fitness and Pochettino is prepared to keep 19-year-old out of action until he is ready.
“He needs a few weeks to be ready to be involved with the team,” Pochettino told a press conference on Thursday. “He is working to try and catch his teammates.
“For Romeo we need to wait a few weeks.”
Another new signing, Moises Caicedo, is in line to make his first start for his new club. The £115m signing came off the bench against West Ham United and endured a nightmare cameo, giving away a late penalty, but Pochettino confirmed the Ecuador international is “ready to start”.
Chelsea are in action again on Friday when they take on Premier League newcomers Luton Town and Pochettino is braced for another difficult affair.
“It is going to be a tough game,” he said. “We were watching them and analysing them and I think they are a strong team.
“It is so clear in the way that they play 3-5-2, they run really fast in transition and are strong in set pieces. It is a team we need to respect and we need to be humble and ready to match them in how they are going to be. We play the way we can play.”
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