Romeo Lavia to Man Utd transfer truth as Ruben Amorim stance on £36m Chelsea star revealed

Romeo Lavia attracted interest from Manchester United over the summer transfer window, but Chelsea were quick to draw a line in the sand

Manchester United approached Chelsea to enquire about the availability of Romeo Lavia in the summer transfer window, but at no point did higher-ups at Stamford Bridge put the 21-year-old midfielder on the table.

Lavia faced an uncertain future in west London at the end of last season after suffering an injury at the Club World Cup. The former Manchester City prospect, whom the Blues signed from Southampton for £53m in August 2023, missed the rest of the tournament due to a muscle strain.

He appeared to have finally put his troubles behind him, starting three of the opening four games in the United States. Lavia had missed a large chunk of the domestic campaign, making just 11 starts in the Premier League, so the setback raised questions about his reliability.

However, football.london understands Chelsea maintained faith in the Belgian, who's under contract until June 2030. Meanwhile, the Blues pushed to sign Alejandro Garnacho from United, and Enzo Maresca eventually secured his signature at the end of August as part of a deal worth just £40m.

It's understood that the Red Devils asked about Lavia during the summer, but at no point did Chelsea offer his services. United did, however, register their interest in Christopher Nkunku, whom AC Milan later signed for £36m.

Until earlier this month when Lavia suffer another injury, he appeared to have repaid the faith of the Club World Cup winners.

Before sustaining a muscle problem in Chelsea's 2-2 draw with Qarabag in the UEFA Champions League, the Belgian had featured six times across all competitions.

Lavia caught the eye, helping the Blues clinch wins over Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, and Tottenham Hotspur. Now, he faces a spell on the sidelines, potentially missing clashes against the likes of Barcelona, Arsenal, and Newcastle United.

Speaking to reporters in Baku, Maresca offered his first thoughts on the injury. The Italian said: "We feel a shame for him, especially for him. He's not able to be fit for a long, long period. We will see now. It's too early to understand what kind of injury. I think it's his quad."

Then, in the pre-match press conference ahead of Chelsea's clash against Wolves, Maresca described the injury as 'painful'. The Blues boss was more than aware of the risk in starting Lavia, likening his situation to that of Reece James.

Before the long-haul trip to Azerbaijan, he outlined his plan for the midfielder. Maresca said: "The main target for Romeo now is to be fit.

"Don't get any injuries. For me, at this moment, Romeo is where Reece was more or less one year ago in terms of back after a long time. We need to manage him every minute, every day, every second.

"And the target with him is just to keep him fit. So, he's training with us. He's OK. He's 100 per cent fit. But, we need to be very careful with him because we don't want him to be out again and finally he can enjoy being a football player."

Maresca added: "In the Forest game, we planned for him 45 minutes. Then Ajax, I think he played one hour, 70 minutes. The other day against Tottenham, when he was on, he was very good.

"We are happy with Romeo. We are happy with the way he's progressing. And the only thing we want is to keep him fit. So, I would like to have Romeo inside the pitch always. But it's my duty to try to protect also him."