Chelsea suffered injury after injury in their defense last season, and Levi Colwill has already suffered a blow before Chelsea’s Premier League opener.
The club has made multiple signings this summer, but most have been attacking reinforcements.
Chelsea are still being linked with attackers, with Alejandro Garnacho and Xavi Simons being priority signings for the club in the time that remains of the transfer window.
Enzo Maresca, though, has different thoughts on the position that Chelsea should be focusing on.
What did Maresca say before Chelsea’s opener?
Speaking on Colwill’s injury and the transfer window, the Chelsea boss said, “The club know exactly what I think.”
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“I think we need a central defender. We are looking for an internal solution, but as I said, the club know exactly what I think.”
Both Josh Acheampong and Trevoh Chalobah played in Colwill’s central position during the club’s preseason friendlies against Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan.
Colwill was a major factor in the Club World Cup, not just in his defensive work, but also in his ability to build out of the back.
“When we build, we build with Levi in the middle. Last year, we played 64 games, and we played all 64 games with either Levi or Tosin [Adarabioyo].
“Now Levi is out. The only other one that can do that job well is Tosin. But we have Premier League, Champions League, with these kind of players.
The rest, they can adapt. [Jorrel] Hato is a new one, he never played as the guy in the middle last season [with Ajax], so it’s not about being a central defender.”
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Maresca’s belief is that Chelsea need a central defender who can play out of the back in the same way Colwill can.
“Yes, [Hato is a] central defender, but can he do that? It’s different. Also, we have players that unfortunately, like Wes [Fofana] or Benoit [Badiashile], they have, in this moment, some [injury] problems.
“And this is the reason why I said that the club knows exactly what I think about central defenders.”
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