Enzo Maresca confirmed that strengthening the defense was the top priority after Levi Colwill’s recent ACL surgery.
The young defender, who played a major role in Chelsea last season and during the club’s World Cup, will face a long recovery and is expected to miss most of the upcoming campaign after being injured in training earlier this week.
Although Chelsea has invested more than £200 million in new signings this summer, Maresca said the club is likely to return to the transfer market in the absence of Coville to enhance its defensive options.
“This is a top priority for me,” Maresca told Channel 5.
“Levi is a great player. What we achieved last season was because of him. He played a lot with me and I love him. We will miss him.
“We are also working to find different solutions.”
Maresca made these comments after Chelsea’s first pre-season friendly game at Stamford Bridge, and despite returning to training just four days ago, Blues won 2-0 against Bayer Leverkusen.
In reflecting on the performance, Maresca said:[I am] Very satisfied with the performance, especially after four days of training. It’s nice to start over. ”
One of the outstanding players is Brazilian youngster Estevao, who was impressed with Joao Pedro and made his debut, and his claim was a regular position when the Premier League season began.
Maresca added: “He’s still young, very, very young. He needs to adapt and need to play. I said yesterday that he’ll help because he’s a great player,” Maresca added.
Chelsea has a big offensive rate this summer, and Maresca admits that not all players will be happy with the game time given the competition.
“Not everyone will be happy forever because if they don’t play, they are not happy.
“They have to know that they are all good, 22, 23, 24 players, they have to know that there will be a lot of rotations.”
