Levi Colwill spotted after major Chelsea injury as Behdad Eghbali enjoys chat with former target

Levi Colwill was spotted in the tunnel at Stade de la Meinau following Strasbourg's clash against Marseille. The Chelsea defender suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury shortly after reporting for pre-season training at Cobham.

Enzo Maresca first announced that Colwill had suffered a knock before the club later confirmed that the 'problem' was worse than first thought. The England international later underwent surgery, ruling him out for a large chunk of the season.

Despite facing a lengthy spell on the sidelines, Colwill recently joined his teammates for a team photo. With a ball at his feet, he posed alongside Marc Cucurella and Trevoh Chalobah, as well as the Club World Cup and UEFA Conference League trophies.

On Friday night, Colwill joined Behdad Eghbali, the co-founder of Clearlake Capital, who owns a majority share of Chelsea, and Sam Jewell, the Director of Global Recruitment at Stamford Bridge, at Stade de la Meinau. The Blues contingent were in attendance as Marseille came from behind to beat Strasbourg 2-1.

Abdoul Ouattara fired the BlueCo outfit ahead shortly after the break before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang equalised in the final quarter of an hour. Michael Amir Murillo netted the winner for Roberto De Zerbi's side in stoppage time.

After the game, Colwill and Jewell joined their former Brighton colleague in the tunnel. French television also captured the moment Eghbali embraced and shared a few words with De Zerbi.

football.london understands that Chelsea were interested in appointing the Italian as head coach last summer. When the Blues sacked Mauricio Pochettino in May 2024, De Zerbi was on a four-man shortlist, alongside Maresca, of possible replacements.

In the end, Chelsea tied the former Leicester City boss down to a five-year contract. Upon securing his signature, the west London outfit's ownership group said: "We are thrilled to welcome Enzo into the Chelsea family.

"We look forward to supporting him and the rest of the sporting team in fulfilling their potential and our expectations over the years to come. He is a highly gifted coach and leader that we are confident can help fulfil our vision and competitive goals for the Club."

Maresca has enjoyed a brilliant first year or so in the dugout at Stamford Bridge, winning the Club World Cup and the Conference League. Chelsea have recently been hit by a wave of injuries, so the Italian will be keen to steady the ship before mounting another bid for silverware.

"I think it is a bit early to think that next week will define the season, we are not still, not even in October," Maresca told reporters on Friday morning ahead of this weekend's clash against Brentford. "For me it is quite early, for sure we need to continue to grow, continue to improve.

"I said it many times, it is the main thing for me as a manager," said the Blues boss. "We try always to rotate players. I think it has to be the main target this season, also because of the amount of games, the amount of injuries.

"But at the same time, sometimes you are not able to rotate players because in that position, for any reason, you lack numbers, you don't have the right numbers. We try, for sure, we have three games in a week, we are going to try to rotate players, but some of them have to repeat every game."

On the impact of playing at the Club World Cup, Maresca said: "In this moment, for different reasons, we have different problems. I think we have seven or eight players out, unfortunately.

"Is this a consequence from last season? I don't know. I don't know, I said it many times, we don't know the answer, unfortunately. But again, we are going to try to adapt and find a solution."

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