A new centre-back has to be near the top of Chelsea's wishlist after they saw Levi Colwill suffer an ACL injury during pre-season training that could keep him out of action for the entirety of the season. And yet, the stance of the club, at least as reported by the media, appears to be that they are happy with their options and are not looking at centre-backs right now.
Chelsea have been touted as potential Premier League contenders this season. Surely, they can't be looking to go into the campaign with Tosin Adarabioyo and Trevoh Chalobah as their first-choice centre-back pairing.
With all due respect to both, that simply does not feel like a centre-back duo capable of winning major trophies. Colwill was Chelsea's best option in the heart of defence. If something like this happened at Manchester City or Liverpool, we all know how they would react in the transfer market. We need the Blues to do the same.
Internally, it looks like discussions are being held over a new centre-back addition, if speculation is accurate. As reported by Football FanCast, Simon Phillips wrote on his Substack:
"Sources have said this week that the club are discussing a new centre back again, and although we don’t have any solid names yet and will update accordingly when we do, there is talk of a potential loan deal being done for an incoming centre back.
"Chelsea do still hold an interest in Antonio Silva from Benfica, but the Marc Guehi noise is dying off because he prefers to go elsewhere at the moment.
"At the moment, it’s still all being considered, but at this point I’d be surprised if Chelsea now don’t sign a new centre back this window. It could still rest on player sales, but that will only be if we decide to sign a permanent new centre back rather than loan one in, which as I say, is now being spoken about internally."
Chelsea holding talks over signing new centre-back on loan
Chelsea have already spent quite a bit this summer, as they have brought in Liam Delap, Joao Pedro, Jamie Gittens and Jorrel Hato to the club. As a result, they need to be careful with how they spend the rest of their budget.
They are believed to be in advanced talks to sign Xavi Simons from RB Leipzig and Alejandro Garnacho from Manchester United. Of course, those two deals, if they go through, are expected to take significant investment as well.
So, all things considered, Chelsea need to be careful with how they approach the remainder of this transfer window. Signing another centre-back might not have been in their plans before Colwill's injury. As a result, a loan deal makes a ton of sense instead of going out and spending on a big-money addition.
So, let's see how this situation plays out over the coming weeks. One can only hope that Chelsea are successful in bringing in a centre-back, whether on loan or permanently, who is capable of replacing Colwill.