Enzo Maresca has revealed that Levi Colwill is set to miss Chelsea’s Premier League opener against Crystal Palace due to injury.
The 22-year-old was a key figure at the heart of Chelsea’s defence last season as Maresca’s side finished fourth in the Premier League and won the Club World Cup this summer.
Colwill returned to training this week following his three-week break after Chelsea’s Club World Cup campaign.
However, the centre-back has now suffered an injury and is set to be ruled out of Chelsea’s Premier League game against Palace at Stamford Bridge on August 17.
‘We had a problem in the last two days about Levi Colwill,’ Maresca said on Thursday.
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‘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.
When asked specifically about Colwill’s injury, Maresca replied: ‘We need to wait, we don’t know yet.’
Asked if Colwill’s injury changes the club’s plan in the transfer market, Maresca said: ‘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.’
Maresca also insisted that he had ‘no doubt’ about new signing Jorrel Hato, who joined Chelsea in a £37 million deal from Ajax earlier this month.
‘He’s much more mature than his age, his character and this kind of thing,
‘Even with him, the message is exactly the same, different country, different league, different tempo, different intensity, so he needs to adapt. But for sure, no doubt, he’s going to help us.’
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