Chelsea defender suffers ACL injury with Newcastle transfer hijack now inevitable

Chelsea have confirmed that defender Levi Colwill will miss most of the 2025/26 campaign — a blow that could see the Blues reignite their interest in Crystal Palace’s Marc Guehi.

The Chelsea squad returned to training this week after winning the Club World Cup in the United States earlier this summer.

Unfortunately for Enzo Maresca and Colwill, the 22-year-old suffered a serious knee injury during his first pre-season session.

The club confirmed in a statement on Thursday that the England international has undergone surgery on his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

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‘Defender Levi Colwill has today undergone successful surgery to an anterior cruciate ligament injury,’ a club statement read.

‘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.

‘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.’

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Blues head coach Enzo Maresca had previously confirmed that Colwill “felt something” near the end of the session but initially didn’t know the severity of the injury.

“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.

When asked if the club would look to sign a replacement, the Italian said: “It depends. We need to wait and then we see.”

There is, at least, some positive news: Wesley Fofana has returned to training after undergoing surgery on a hamstring injury last season.

“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.”

Colwill played 47 times for club and country last season, helping Chelsea win the Europa Conference League and secure a fourth-place finish in the Premier League, qualifying them for the Champions League.

As for potential replacements, Guehi’s name is likely to come up again this week.

Chelsea have already signed Jorrel Hato from Ajax in this transfer window, and they currently have Wesley Fofana, Axel Disasi, Benoît Badiashile, Tosin Adarabioyo, Trevoh Chalobah, Aaron Anselmino, and Renato Veiga available at centre-back.

Mamadou Sarr, meanwhile, has been loaned out to Strasbourg in France.

Still, this injury blow is unlikely to stop the Blues from spending big on a new central defender to replace a key figure like Colwill.

Chelsea sold Guehi to Palace for £18 million in 2021, and the England defender is now in the final year of his contract — with both Liverpool and Newcastle United also interested.

There’s nothing concrete to suggest Chelsea will make a move for Guehi… yet. But they have shown interest in re-signing the 25-year-old before, and considering how Newcastle’s transfer window is going, it feels somewhat inevitable.

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