Maresca reveals Chelsea injury blow ahead of new Premier League campaign – but provides positive update on another

Colwill Injury Cloud Over Chelsea's Pre-Season

Blues Boss Admits Concern over Defender's Fitness

Chelsea's pre-season preparations have been dealt a blow after manager Enzo Maresca revealed defender Levi Colwill picked up an injury during training. The severity of the issue remains unclear, leaving the Blues anxiously awaiting further assessments.

"We had a problem in the last two days with Levi Colwill and we don’t know how long he is going to be out," Maresca admitted ahead of Friday's friendly against Bayer Leverkusen. "We’ll see, hopefully not too long, but for sure it’s a problem for us."

The 22-year-old was a mainstay in the Chelsea side last season, making 43 appearances across all competitions, including their Club World Cup campaign.

Transfer Talk Heats Up?

Maresca wouldn't rule out the possibility of Chelsea dipping into the transfer market for defensive reinforcements should Colwill be sidelined for an extended period.

"It depends," he said. "We need to wait and then we’ll see but as I said, We know how important Levi has been. I spoke with him yesterday and I told him if we achieved what we achieved last year, it’s also because of him. He was a main player for us.”

Fofana Returns to Training Boost

However, there is some positive news for Chelsea as central defender Wesley Fofana has returned to training following a hamstring injury that limited him to just 14 appearances last season.

"Wes is back," Maresca confirmed. "He’s training with us. I don’t think he’s ready to get minutes in the next two games but he can probably be available for the Palace game and this is big news."