Chelsea star Levi Colwill is expected to be ruled out for the majority of the 2025-26 season after he underwent surgery on his ACL injury.
Colwill was a key figure at the heart of Chelsea’s defence last term as the club finished fourth in the Premier League and won the Club World Cup.
It was revealed this week that Colwill was set to miss Chelsea’s Premier League opener against Crystal Palace – but it’s now been confirmed that the English centre-back is set for a much longer spell on the sidelines.
‘Levi Colwill has today undergone successful surgery to an anterior cruciate ligament injury,’ Chelsea said in statement on Thursday.
‘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.
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‘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.’
Speaking on Thursday, before Colwill’s surgery was announced, Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca said: ‘We had a problem in the last two days over Levi.
‘We don’t know how long he is going to be out. For us we’ll see, hopefully not too long but for sure, it’s a problem for us.’
Asked if Colwill’s injury would change the club’s plans in the transfer market, Maresca added: ‘It depends. We need to wait and we will see.
‘We know each other from last year and we know how important Levi has been.
‘I spoke with him yesterday, I told him what we achieved last year it was because of him and he was a main player for us.’
Chelsea have already signed a new defender this season, Jorrel Hato, who can be deployed as a centre-back or left-back.
The Blues paid Ajax £37m to bring the 19-year-old Netherlands international to Stamford Bridge.
‘He’s much more mature than his age, his character and this kind of thing,’ Maresca said about Hato.
‘With him, [it’s a] different country, different league, different tempo, different intensity, so he needs to adapt.
‘But for sure, no doubt, he’s going to help us.’
Hato, speaking about his move to Chelsea, said: ‘For sure it was a big decision. I played seven years at Ajax and for me it was home – the people, the players, the coaches, the culture.
‘So it was not easy to leave, but my feeling was that at this moment I needed to make a step to the biggest club in the biggest competitions.’