Chelsea rocked by Levi Colwill injury blow as defender set for lengthy spell out after undergoing surgery on ACL injury

Colwill sustained the injury in training earlier this week, and now the club have announced that the 22-year-old has had an operation to treat the issue. The centre-back is facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines.

A club statement reads: "Defender Levi Colwill has today undergone successful surgery to an anterior cruciate ligament injury. The 22-year-old had reported back to Cobham for pre-season at the start of this week, before unfortunately sustaining the injury in training. Medical assessments confirmed surgery would be the required course of action. Levi will now begin his recovery and be supported by the club's medical department at Cobham during his rehabilitation phase."

The England international is, arguably, Chelsea's best defender and without him, head coach Enzo Maresca has a defensive dilemma ahead of the new season. This may lead the Blues to try and sign a new centre-back, especially as that was their weakest part of the team last season.

Maresca hinted at the severity of Colwill's injury this week.

He told reporters: "We had a problem the last two days with Levi Colwil. We don’t know how long he’s going to be out. It was the first session on Monday and just in the last minutes of the session he felt something and we need to wait. We know each other from last year and we know how important he has been. I spoke with Levi yesterday and I told him if we achieve what we achieved last year, it’s also because of him."

He now faces a long spell on the sidelines and is expected to miss a significant chunk of the 2024-25 season.