Chelsea star Romeo Lavia has shared advice he received from Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola as the two giants of English football face off in the FA Cup final.
The Belgian midfielder first impressed the City manager during a youth tournament named after Kevin De Bruyne whilst playing for Anderlecht.
Despite De Bruyne being among the most eye-catching creative midfielders in Premier League history, Guardiola encouraged Lavia to adopt a different approach during his time at the City Academy.
The Belgian said: "If I could give you one example of advice he gave me it was to be the one that is unseen."
He compared this philosophy to Sergio Busquets, with Lavia saying: "If you watch the game you don't see Busquets, but if you watch Busquets you see the game."
The Chelsea star's time at Stamford Bridge has been plagued by unfortunate injury problems, restricting him to merely 43 outings since the Blues secured his signature from Southampton in 2023 for a fee reaching £58million.
Discussing the impact of Guardiola on himself, Lavia said: "He is an incredible manager, and I learned so much ever since I joined and not even from when I was with the first team.
"He would regularly come to the academy games and give feedback, not necessarily directly, but to the coaches that we had at the time.
Romeo Lavia shared the impact Guardiola had on his game
|PA
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"If I could give you one example of advice he gave me, it was to be the one that is unseen. I remember him saying that to me.
"As in going unnoticed. It is a bit like what we used to see with Busquets in terms of, if you watch the game, you don't see Busquets, but if you watch Busquets, you see the game.
"He made the team tick. You're making players around you better. He [Guardiola] said that this is key for the position I am playing in."
Guardiola advised Lavia to compare his game with that of Busquets
|PA
Chelsea's season has been marked by turbulence, with both Enzo Maresca and Liam Rosenior departing from the head coach position.
Lavia acknowledges that the squad must shoulder some responsibility for these managerial exits, though he firmly disputes suggestions that players gave up under Rosenior.
"It's tough to hear because you know the work that you put in every single day," Lavia said.
Chelsea are in action against Manchester City in the FA Cup final at 3pm
| REUTERS"But we are at Chelsea so every time something doesn't go our way, we're going to get criticised for it."
He insisted the squad uses such criticism constructively: "To say we don't listen to it would be a lie. But we use it in a good way."
The midfielder recognises that lifting the FA Cup alone would not salvage Chelsea's campaign entirely, but it would represent a significant achievement.
He said: "For this team, we want to win every competition we are in, so obviously we are disappointed. We have to make the most of what's left. To finish with a trophy would be amazing.
"The final will be a good one, and it will be good to see my old team-mates, my ex-manager as well."
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