Blog

Liverpool.com spoke exclusively to former managers of Roméo Lavia as he is expected to join Liverpool from Southampton this summer.

“I think he’s one of the best,” said Arno van den Abbeel, referring to his former protege Roméo Lavia, close to a transfer to Liverpool. “I think in this position [midfielder] he is one of the best in the world for his age group.”

Van den Abbeel will know the quality of Lavia better than anyone. The Belgian coach worked with him both in the Anderlecht academy and in the national youth team, following his career from an early age.

The Belgian coach first worked with Lavia at U9 level at Anderlecht academy. “He came to the club when he was eight or nine years,” he remembers Van Den Abbeel of Liverpool.com.

“He played for a regional club, at a lower level for this. I remember that he was quite large for his age, he was quite long. We played five against five or eight against eight in that age group and played more in a central position. \ ”

At that age, the things that distinguished themselves on Lavia for Van Den Abbeel were mental qualities and his attention in training sessions, which already remembered a professional football player.

“He was already technically good. And he was focused and quite focused on what you already wanted to achieve. So he was always eager to learn; he always tried to do 100 percent of what was asked of him. He was already mature enough for his age.”

But of course there were also improvements that Lavia had to make to his game.

“He wasn’t that fast. In the beginning he had some problems with speed and acceleration. But as he grew up, he developed into a more explosive player as he got used to his body. It was just [being a little slow] growing fast at a very young age. So he had to develop some motor skills and coordination skills in the beginning.\”

Despite that area to improve, Van den Abbeel remembers standing out in his age group. “He really stood out. He was more above average, in that age group.”

However, at that age it is always difficult to predict a player’s potential. Van den Abbeel only worked with Lavia at Anderlecht up to the U10 age group. However, a few years later, his paths crossed again with Lavia while working for the Belgium U15 national team.

At this point, Lavia was a much more complete player.

“He was already playing an older age group,” Van den Abbeel recalled. “So he was playing in the Under-16s, and the Under-16s staff said to me, ‘You absolutely have to call this player.’ He played in the big tournaments with the club, so it wasn’t always easy to call him up for the smaller Games or small moments of recognition.”

Lavia was one of the biggest youngsters in Anderlecht’s prestigious academy at the time, and Van den Abbeel remembers seeing a player change drastically. “He really stood out for his age group and was one of the best players at the time,” says Van den Abbeel.

“He became much more explosive. He had much more speed and was very agile. He has become very agile in the field. He could turn fast, accelerate fast, he was technically superior and he had developed a good understanding of the game.” Match.

“He was very proactive in attack but also in defense. He played many one-touch moments while recovering balls or intercepting balls. What was most important to me was that he still had the same drive, he was still very focused on what he wanted to achieve.”

Able to play in multiple roles, Van den Abbeel remembers using him as a centre-back in a few games at U15 level.

“I played him as a central defender and he did very well there. I think that could have helped him develop the defensive skills or the leadership skills that he shows now.”

It wasn’t long before it got even more eye-catching. At U16 level, he was named team captain by Bob Browaeys.

“He was already like an adult,” Browaeys told Liverpool.com of his decision. “He was very mature and a bit more advanced in his development than the other players. I remember he was so cool and calm and he had an impact on the other players as well. He was disciplined. was enough to make him captain.”

Van den Abbeel remembers a similar character. “You should all be like him. He was very, very focused, very eager to learn and always focused,” he says. “His thoughts were always on football and the things he needed to do to improve. It was really a pleasure to work with him.”

Around the same time, Lavia also gained recognition from Pep Guardiola, who attended the annual Kevin De Bruyne tournament in Belgium and caught a glimpse of the young talent. Things were changing quickly and although Anderlecht offered him a professional contract, Lavia opted for a move to England to join Manchester City. “I think everyone was surprised,” recalls Van den Abbeel. “It’s a very big club. It was very young then. And people are always a bit skeptical when Belgian players leave so young because there are few who succeed and it’s not the easiest. ”

At the time, Anderlecht and even the Belgian federation tried to persuade him to stay, but Lavia’s decision was made.

“I remember the whole federation and the club trying to convince him not to leave so soon.” But I think he had a plan in mind and he wanted to execute it. And it went pretty well.

“The easiest thing would have been to keep growing in Anderlecht and try to be in the first team where everyone believed in him. And everyone was making big plans for him. But he chose the easiest path. difficult and it says maybe also find out more about him.\”

Arriving at Manchester City, in a more competitive environment away from home, at a time when COVID-19 restrictions were still in place meant Lavia didn’t have the easiest time at the start in England. “I saw him in training camp with the U18 team,” Browaeys recalled. “And he said it was a very difficult time for him the first six months he was there. It was not easy to leave Belgium and his family and enter the adult world.

But Lavia persevered and it wasn’t long before he dominated Manchester City’s age groups as well. His strong performances won him the approval of Guardiola again, who gave him his senior debut aged just 17 in the League Cup against Wycombe Wanderers.

A big part of his secret to success is his willingness to learn and his drive to improve. Always curious about the game, his coaches remember a player who was constantly trying to improve himself from a young age.

“Even when he went to England, he wrote to me and always asked me what was the next activity in the training program of the youth national team. He was very involved,” recalled Browaeys.

“To me, that was very typical of him. Players don’t normally do that, even captains in the past haven’t sent messages, but he has.”

Another bold move followed when he moved to Southampton last summer. But it paid off once again, as Lavia established himself in the Premier League, earning the club’s player of the year award ahead of James Ward-Prowse in return.

Looking ahead, a possible move to Anfield is now in the cards for the youngster. According to The Athletic, negotiations are underway between Liverpool and Southampton.

All eyes will be on Lavia in Belgium. Van den Abbeel is regarded as one of the brightest talents in the country and he believes he has the potential to reach the top level. “The press announced the top 50 Belgian talents this summer, and he was number one on that list,” says Van den Abbeel.

“It’s always difficult to predict potential talent. But I think his potential is close to the top level, the level of Kevin De Bruyne, the top level we have in Belgium.

“This is what should be the goal of him and this is also the potential of him. So I hope for him that it achieves it. But many factors can affect your career. So we’ll see. He certainly has what it takes to reach the top of football.”