England star Levi Collwill has undergone ACL surgery after suffering a serious knee injury on the first day back at pre-season training. And with the defender now set to miss the rest of the season, Chelsea could now enter the race to sign their former player Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace.
Blues players only returned to training on Monday just three weeks following their FIFA Club World Cup triumph in New Jersey on July 13.
Speaking on Thursday, head coach Enzo Maresca revealed Colwill suffered “a problem” in training and the club were awaiting a diagnosis. Results from a Wednesday scan came back yesterday and Colwill immediately – and successfully – went under the knife.
“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 said.
The Blues academy product made 47 appearances for club and country last season as the West London club also won the Europa Conference League and qualified for the Champions League.
Asked if the injury means Chelsea will have to re-enter the transfer market to sign cover this summer, Maresca added: “It depends. We need to wait and then we see.
“But 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 sold Guehi to Palace for £18m in 2021. The England defender is now entering the final year of his contract with Liverpool and Newcastle – who bid for him last summer – also interested in his signature.
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Chelsea have already spent £37m on Ajax teenage defender Jorrel Hato but Maresca said Wesley Fofana, who underwent hamstring surgery in April, was not yet ready to return for the upcoming friendlies against Bayer Leverkusen on Friday and AC Milan on Sunday.
“Wes is back,” added Maresca. “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.”
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