Chelsea and England have received a crushing blow with Levi Colwill forced to undergo surgery on an ACL injury on his first day back in the training for the season.
The influential 22-year-old took the serious problem in the last few minutes of the opening session of the Blues from 2025-26 after a three-week break after the World Cup of Club.
He was sent for a scan to assess the damage and after the worst fears of Chelsea were confirmed, an immediate decision was made to send him for an operation.
The club told us last night that his operation had been successful, but Colwill will be set aside for a considerable period, just like James Maddison in Tottenham Hotspur after he had also suffered a torn ACL this week.
Colwill started last season, except for three Premier League matches from Chelsea and also helped them to win the Conference League and Club World Cup.
The blues now assess whether this month will bring in a new central defender.
Marc Guehi is a left-sided middle behind that they have long admired and the 25-year-old has now started in the last year of his contract in Crystal Palace, which is assumed to appreciate him for £ 40 million. Chelsea sold Guehi to Paleis for £ 18 million in 2021 before their new owners, Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, took over the club.
Maresca said yesterday at Colwill at a press conference prior to their weekend friendship versus Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan: 'We don't know how long he will be gone. It is certainly a problem for us. I spoke with him yesterday and told him that if we achieved what we achieved last year, this was also through him and he was a main player for us. '