Maresca Eyes New Centre-Back After Colwill Injury as Chelsea Beat Leverkusen 2-0

Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca faces an urgent defensive headache following a serious injury to key centre-back Levi Colwill.

The England international has undergone successful ACL surgery and is expected to miss the majority of the upcoming 2025-26 season.

In the wake of this blow, Maresca admitted that bolstering the squad at the back has become a clear priority.

He said, “It’s a priority for me to get a new centre-back. We will see if we go for it.”

Chelsea marked their return to action with a confident 2–0 friendly victory over Bayer Leverkusen at Stamford Bridge. Estêvão, on his debut, opened the scoring within the opening 20 minutes with a cool finish after capitalising on his own rebound, while João Pedro sealed the win late in the game with a composed strike, rounding off a polished attacking display by the Blues.

With Colwill sidelined, Maresca must now assess whether to reinforce at centre-back and how quickly new recruit Jorrel Hato, signed from Ajax, can adapt. The coming weeks will be crucial as Chelsea prepare for the new Premier League campaign and work to maintain their Champions League ambitions.