Chelsea braced for further injury upheaval as Manchester City look on with Rodri repeat concern

Chelsea's hopes of silverware in 2025-26 have taken a blow this week after it was revealed central defender Levi Colwill sustained an anterior cruciate ligament rupture and will require surgery.

The England international is likely to spend the majority of the new season sidelined with the issue, which has also rendered Tottenham Hotspur's James Maddison out of action for several months.

Colwill's injury comes after a season in which the 22-year-old made 35 Premier League starts, despite Chelsea's pool of available centre-backs.

Levi Colwill sidelined with ACL rupture

The defender's domestic campaign finished on May 25 but three days later the Blues were back in action, defeating Real Betis to clinch the UEFA Europa Conference League. Colwill was a second half substitute only playing 29 minutes and in truth only made three appearances throughout the entire competition, but was named in the squad eight times, missing only two of Chelsea's away trips.

Less than 10 days after Chelsea's Conference League victory, Colwill had joined up with the England squad for a pair of fixtures against Andorra and Senegal, appearing for the duration versus the African side who ran out 3-1 winners over a leggy Three Lions outfit.

Time for a break? Think again. Chelsea's FIFA Club World Cup opener in Atlanta afforded Colwill only the briefest hiatus from playing, training and travelling. Between the final whistle at the City Ground, as England were beaten by Senegal, and kick-off at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in the United States, there were roughly 140 hours.

Ten of those will have been spent in the air and for just under half of the remaining time between matches, Colwill would have slept. Over the next four weeks, Colwill played 90 minutes or more on five occasions, often in difficult conditions out in the US, after a full calendar of domestic and international football with Chelsea and England.

Between the Club World Cup Final and Chelsea's first day of pre-season on August 4, players were given approximately three weeks downtime. You could probably count on one hand the number who spent that alone in a dark room at their Surrey mansions after a mammoth season, focused squarely on physical recovery ahead of 2025-26 - and rightly so. For Colwill to break down just days into the club's pre-season schedule is an ominous portent.

So, how did it come to this? Well, we have a theory.

Colwill had been playing too much football, his body repeatedly put under the stresses and strains of long-haul international travel, given inadequate time to appropriately rest and recover, all of which adds to an increased risk of injury.

There is no individual party to blame for the player's injury particularly when there are a variety of contributing factors. Nor should blame be apportioned at such a time when support takes precedence, but there is an argument to be made that Colwill's injury was preventable.

Granted, players these days, in particular those at elite clubs like Chelsea and Man City, have access to the best-in-class when it comes to recovery. Digitally-controlled ice baths, cryogenic chambers, leg compression boots, as well as leading teams of physiotherapists and sports science professionals are on hand day and night to guard against injury and discomfort, but even best-in-class cannot reduce the risk to absolute zero.

Various figures in the footballing world have called for the reduction in the number of competitions and fixtures elite-level players are expected to fulfil. Marcelo Bielsa and Jurgen Klopp have both spoken freely about the need to protect the individuals at the heart of the sport, as well as the product itself.

Before Man City talisman Rodri's season-ending ACL tear last September, the Spaniard had taken part in a 58-game season with his club and country, going deep in a summer competition, before breaking down shortly upon the restart of the new season. Notice any parallels?

Will anything be done? Most likely not. Most likely it will require greater misfortune on the players' part before action is taken, which is a sorry state for the nature of the modern game.