The 2025/26 season is about to begin and coach Enzo Maresca has already received his first shock, when central defender Levi Colwill suffered a serious injury.

Just hours after Maresca raised concerns about Colwill, Chelsea confirmed the worst.

CFC - Levi Colwill.jpg
Chelsea will be without Colwill for several months to come. Photo: CFC

“Levi Colwill has had successful surgery to repair his anterior cruciate ligament injury. The 22-year-old returned to pre-season training but unfortunately picked up the injury in training,” Chelsea said in a statement.

A product of Chelsea's academy and a leader in defence, Colwill played 43 games last season (40 starts), scoring 2 goals and providing 2 assists.

Notably, he scored the only goal to help Chelsea win a ticket back to the Champions League when defeating Nottingham Forest 1-0 in the final round of the Premier League.

He also assisted Cole Palmer in the 3-0 win over PSG in the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup final.

Injuries like this take a long time to fully recover from, and Colwill is expected to miss most of the season.

This forces Chelsea to quickly return to the transfer market to find a quality replacement center-back in the coming months.

Chelsea – who open their 2025/26 Premier League campaign against Crystal Palace on August 17 – have already spent €44m on Jorrel Hato – a former Ajax left-back who can play as a centre-back and full-back.

However, Colwill's serious injury – which could see him miss the 2026 World Cup – has also seen Chelsea's plans change, including temporarily retaining Renato Veiga.

The Portuguese has just returned from Juventus after a loan spell and is on the transfer list, but could now temporarily fill the Colwill void.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/chelsea-gap-hoa-levi-colwill-nghi-gan-het-mua-giai-moi-2429839.html