Chelsea: Enzo Maresca 'prioritising' defensive reinforcements with Levi Colwill set to miss months | OneFootball

The defender’s injury is spanner to the Italian’s plans

Your matchday briefing on Chelsea, featuring team news and expert analysis from Malik Ouzia

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Enzo Maresca said he is prioritising signing a new defender after Levi Colwill underwent surgery on an ACL injury this week.

Chelsea have already spent in excess of £200million on new players this summer, but Maresca said Chelsea will likely dip back into the market as he looks to bolster his backline in Colwill’s absence.

“We are trying also to find different solutions.”

He was speaking after returning to Stamford Bridge for the first of Chelsea’s two pre-season friendlies, in which the Blues produced a comfortable 2-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen despite only returning from a summer break on Monday.

Maresca said he was pleased with Chelsea’s showing: “[I am] very happy with the performance, especially after just four days training. It is good to start again.”

Brazilian starlet Estevao joined Joao Pedro on the scoresheet, producing an assured debut as he laid claim to a starting role come the start of the Premier League season.

Of the player, Maresca said: “He is very young, very, very young. He needs to adapt, he needs to play. I said yesterday he is going to help because he is a fantastic player.”

Playing time may be hard to come by, though, as Chelsea have added a glut of attacking talent to their squad. Maresca admitted he would not be able to keep them all content as they fight for minutes on the pitch.

“Not all of them will be happy always, because if they don't play, they are not happy.

“They have to understand they are all good, 22, 23, 24 players, and they have to understand there will be many rotations.”