Chelsea's transfer plans for 2026 could spell end to two players' Stamford Bridge careers
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Chelsea's reported recruitment plans could spell trouble for both Romeo Lavia and Dario Essugo, who have struggled with injuries this season.
The latest report suggested that Chelsea have set strengthening the midfield as their recruitment priority for 2026.
It stemmed from the very obvious problem that Enzo Fernandez and Moises Caicedo's excessive workload this season.
Blues head coach Enzo Maresca even previously stated that these two are among the few Chelsea players who could not train every day because of it.
Maresca has also had to use two right-backs, Reece James and Malo Gusto, in midfield on several occasions.
All of these are partly because of Lavia's and Essugo's injury absences.
Lavia already missed the first 10 games of the season for Chelsea due to a muscle injury, before sustaining a similar injury in November during the Champions League with Qarabag.
He has since missed another 10 games, having only featured seven times from September to November.
Essugo, on the other hand, has yet to make his Premier League debut since joining Chelsea from Sporting CP in the summer.
He made his club debut in the Club World Cup and was on the bench for the first three games of the season, but picked up a thigh injury during international duty with Portugal Under-21s that needed surgery.
He has so far missed 22 games for Chelsea, and having suffered a setback in training recently, this could increase.
It is unfair to blame players for sustaining injuries, but there is only so much space in the squad, and it is hard to justify allocating them to players a head coach cannot rely on.
Obviously, both Lavia and Essugo will hopefully have the second half of the season to prove that they belong in this team.
Essugo, in particular, has not had many injury problems prior to this. It is a different story with Lavia, whose injury records are far from promising.
If Chelsea were to bring in a new centre midfielder as they reportedly planned, the Belgium international's spot could be at most risk.
Essugo should now be close to making his return, whereas it remains unclear how long Lavia will be out with his latest injury.
Gerry Crisandy is a freelance writer who has covered Chelsea for many years. His work has been published on The Chelsea Chronicle and Pride of London. He grew up idolising Michael Ballack and is a firm believer in expected goals.