Why Chelsea player with one appearance since February could be the biggest winner of new manager’s appointment | OneFootball

Ask most Chelsea fans who their top players from last season were and they’ll likely tell you Cole Palmer, Conor Gallagher and perhaps Malo Gusto.

But going by the number of Man of the Match awards won all season on WhoScored, another man’s name should be in the mix – Levi Colwill. He was joint third for MOTM prizes (after Palmer and Nicolas Jackson) and was the 6th highest rated player in the squad for performances all season.

The fact that he ended the season injured, and only ended up playing twice after the Carabao Cup final defeat to Liverpool in February has rather encouraged people to forget he was having a very solid season up to that point.

Levi Colwill in training ahead of facing Tottenham

Whether playing as a tucked in left back or as a central defender, he was really solid and took the step up from Brighton to Chelsea in his stride. We’re really excited to see what he can do next season with Enzo Maresca in charge. Colwill shone under Roberto De Zerbi in his season on loan with the Seagulls, and all indications are that Maresca is going to try and play a similar style of play.

A specialist and potential protégé

Colwill should thrive, especially given the inverted full back sounds like a favourite flourish of Maresca, and its something we’ve already seen the defender do with some success. If Levi can get his fitness back and start playing like he did at the start of last season, he could be one of the players most set up for success under this new regime.

It also massively reduces our need to buy a player at left back, if the plan is for Levi to feature there regularly. We can’t wait for preaseason for our first clues.