Levi Colwill's ACL injury could have a major short-term and long-term impact on Chelsea. For now, it remains to be seen how the Blues go about replacing the Englishman, who is arguably their best centre-back right now. But we all know how such serious injuries can end up derailing promising careers. It happens far too often. Let's just hope that does not turn out to be the case with the 22-year-old, who was just starting to establish himself as a top defender.
There have been suggestions in the media that Chelsea are happy with their options at centre-back and not intent on signing another this summer. But that might very well be the public stance of the club, so that they do not lose leverage in any potential future deals.
Over the summer, we had already seen Chelsea being linked with plenty of centre-backs like Marc Guehi, Mario Gila, Jarrad Branthwaite and many others. Now, the need to sign one has become pretty urgent. One cannot forget that the club's current options are pretty injury-prone themselves.
Wesley Fofana has played 34 games in three seasons for Chelsea. Not much else needs to be said. He is not the answer. Benoit Badiashile has a track record of injuries as well. It might be worth considering Renato Veiga as a genuine option at centre-back on the back of this Colwill injury, while also keeping an eye out for transfer market opportunities.
Chelsea want €50m Barcelona centre-back after Levi Colwill's injury
As reported by Fichajes, Chelsea want to sign Ronald Araujo. On the other hand, Barcelona are believed to be willing to consider offers of around €50 million.
Araujo was considered one of the top centre-backs in world football not too long ago. But he has struggled with injury problems in recent years and is no longer as important to this Barcelona team.
Of course, it remains to be seen how genuine Chelsea's interest in signing Araujo is. If they do indeed make a move for him, it would come with its fair share of risk as they would be going after another injury-prone centre-back.