Chelsea: Levi Colwill could miss Premier League opener as injury fears grow

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Evening Standard

·7 de agosto de 2025

Chelsea: Levi Colwill could miss Premier League opener as injury fears grow

Defender picked up a knock in training on Monday

Doubtful: Levi Colwill

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Chelsea defender Levi Colwill is a doubt for the start of the new Premier League season.

The England international, who has become a regular under Enzo Maresca, sustained a knock in training on Monday and there are fears he could miss the game at home to Crystal Palace next weekend.

It is not yet clear as to what the issue is with Colwill, but understandably the Blues head coach is hopeful the central defender will not be sidelined for too long.

Speaking in a press conference on Thursday morning, Maresca said: “We had a problem the last two days with Levi Colwill, that we don’t know how long he is going to be out.

“So for us, we will see, hopefully not too long, but for sure it’s a problem for us.

“We need to wait, we don’t know yet.

“It was in the first session on Monday, just in the last minutes of the session. He felt something and, as I said, we need to wait and then we see.”

Maresca also addressed if Chelsea will need to enter the transfer market for a replacement amid concerns over Colwill.

“It depends. We need to wait and then we see,” he added. “But, as I said, we know each other from last year and, you know in our way, how important Levi has been.

“I spoke with him yesterday and I told him that if we achieve what we achieved last year, it is also because of him - and he was a main player for us.”

Chelsea return to action on Friday following their exploits at the Club World Cup earlier in the summer. They face Bayer Leverkusen in a pre-season friendly before hosting AC Milan on Sunday afternoon.

The two games are set to come too soon for Wesley Fofana to make his return from hamstring surgery, though he is on course to face Palace.

Maresca said: “Wes is back. He is training with us. I don’t think he is ready to get minutes in the next two games - but probably he can be available for the Palace game.

“This is big news because we start last season, the first five or six months, with Wes and Levi as our two central defenders.”