With Reece James and Wesley Fofana having come through similar injury setbacks, Lavia is keen to become the latest Chelsea player to rewrite his story.
He has become a regular in Alonso’s midfield alongside captain James, who began his career as a right-back.
Lavia’s importance has only increased, with Moises Caicedo limited to 14 minutes this season and Enzo Fernandez having left for Manchester City in a £125m transfer on deadline day.
He added: “It’s part of my game as well to take responsibility and have some character. I really like being in that position and also being at this club. Having this responsibility, it’s not even pressure, it’s just like privilege, so I’m actually living the dream.
“This is why you’ve been playing and training all these years for, so just go and enjoy it.”
He speaks of having the “love” of his team-mates, while Chelsea have publicly and privately backed Lavia to become a key player despite an injury-hit couple of seasons.
There is now hope that Chelsea can become a force again after a tweaked transfer strategy that has added more experienced players, alongside the arrival of £117m club record signing Morgan Rogers from Aston Villa, who featured with Lavia in Manchester City’s academy.
Alongside Cole Palmer and Joao Pedro, Chelsea have scored 18 goals in all competitions across six matches, something that has thrilled Blues fans and neutrals alike.
“It’s honestly amazing,” Lavia said. “Obviously I knew Morgan, but just the way he’s come in and then they’ve all clicked together up front. Sometimes I wish I could go in the stands and enjoy watching it.
“It makes your job easier, because it’s like ‘you guys go and work your magic and then we do the rest’. So we’re really, really happy to have them all and hopefully we can achieve great things together.”
Yet Lavia is not getting carried away and says the team have been “too immature” in the past and need to be “realistic” about “becoming the team that we and everyone thinks we can be”.
For him, it is about ticking off milestones and enjoying the journey, both collectively and individually, after scoring his first Chelsea goal in a 4-3 win against Brighton.
“It was just a moment where I felt free,” he explained. “It feels like all the work that you’re putting in, you gain the reward of it, so it was a very emotional moment.
“I wanted to change the narrative. My first Premier League goal was against Chelsea [for Southampton in 2022], so I always felt like it was a bit strange.
“I saw all my team-mates score, so I was waiting for it to be my turn and when it happened I was very, very happy and excited. I wanted to express it as much as possible with the fans and I really loved it.”