Levi Colwill's ACL injury has made life a lot more difficult for Chelsea going into the 25/26 season. The Englishman was expected to be a nailed-on starter at centre-back for the Blues. Now, with him set to miss the majority of the campaign, if not all of it, there are big decisions to make. Will the club go out and make a statement signing in that area of the pitch or will they trust the squad that they have in place?
It is worth pointing out that Chelsea were already being linked with centre-backs all summer before Colwill's injury. So, not signing one with your best centre-back out injured would be a letdown, no matter what the public stance is on their part in the immediate aftermath of the injury.
One of the players Chelsea have been linked with is Ilya Zabarnyi. But unfortunately for them, the Bournemouth centre-back is headed elsewhere.
As reported by Fabrizio Romano, Zabarnyi to Paris Saint-Germain is 'here we go'. He is set to sign a 5-year deal after a fee package worth €67m was verbally agreed with Bournemouth.
'Here we go' - Fabrizio Romano confirms Chelsea-linked defender's transfer
Zabarnyi is a Premier League-proven centre-back. Someone like him would have been a great replacement for Colwill. But unfortunately, PSG have gotten the deal done.
Of course, there are plenty of other centre-backs Chelsea have been linked with recently. That includes names like Mario Gila, Marc Guehi, Ronald Araujo and more. And expect that list to expand further now that the extent of Colwill's injury has been made official.
If you ask us, not signing another centre-back would be a major error on the part of Chelsea, especially with such an important campaign coming up. Wesley Fofana and Benoit Badiashile are injury-prone themselves and cannot be relied upon. Tosin Adarabioyo and Trevoh Chalobah are good but does that sound like a Champions League-level centre-back pairing? Let's see if Colwill's injury results in a lifeline being presented to Renato Veiga's career at Stamford Bridge.