Chelsea are facing a difficult problem in defense, as centre-back Levi Colwill has suffered a ligament injury and will be out for a long time. In the Premier League opener against Crystal Palace in round 1 of the Premier League, the Blues' central defender pair is expected to be Tosin Adarabioyo and Trevoh Chalobah.
However, coach Enzo Maresca admitted that he could not find a perfect replacement for Colwill in the current squad. The Italian coach shared: "You know how important Levi was to us last season, because he decided our play. But now he is injured and it is difficult to replace him.
Chelsea signed Jorrel Hato from Ajax for £37 million, but Maresca believes the youngster is not fit enough to replace Colwill. The Italian coach emphasized: When building the squad, we built with Levi in the middle. Last year, we played 64 games and those 64 games were with Levi and Tosin. Now Levi is absent, the only one who can do the job well is Tosin.
We have Hato but he has never played as a centre-back last season. It's true that he can play centre-back, but what should he do and can he do well? That is really important.
In addition, the prolonged injuries of Benoit Badishille and Wesley Fofana have further worried Chelsea. Maresca admitted that the board clearly understands his views and does not rule out the possibility of recruiting another centre-back, in which Benfica's Antonio Silva is being considered a potential candidate.
