Maresca at odds with Chelsea over Colwill replacement

Enzo Maresca says he has told Chelsea he wants to sign a new central defender to replace the injured Levi Colwill - but the club continues to seek an "internal solution".

England international Colwill has had surgery on an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury and is expected to miss most of the season.

The 22-year-old was a near ever-present for Chelsea last season in the Premier League, starting 35 of their 38 matches as they qualified for the Champions League.

When asked what he thought was the solution to replacing Colwill in his squad, Maresca said: "The club know exactly what I think.

"I think we need a central defender. We are looking for an internal solution but as I said, the club know exactly what I think."

In addition to his Premier League contribution last season, Colwill played a major role as a substitute in the Conference League final and during the Club World Cup as the Blues won their first two major trophies under the current ownership.

His presence is key tactically, more than defensively but, crucially, Maresca believes that Colwill is his best central defender at build-up play from the back.

"When we build, we build with Levi in the middle," said Maresca.

"Last year we played 64 games and we played all 64 games with either Levi or Tosin [Adarabioyo in the middle].

"Now Levi is out. The only other one that he can do that job well is Tosin. But we have Premier League, Champions League, with these kind of players.

"The rest, they can adapt. [Jorrel] Hato is a new one, he never played as the guy in the middle last season [with Ajax], so it's not about being a central defender.

"Yes, [he is a] central defender but can he do that? It's different. Also we have players that unfortunately, like Wes [Fofana] or Benoit [Badiashile], they have in this moment some [injury] problems.

"And this is the reason why I said that the club knows exactly what I think about central defenders."

Josh Acheampong and Trevoh Chalobah having been trialled in Colwill's role in wins over Bayer Leverkusen and AC Milan during a short two-week pre-season.

Chelsea are known to admire Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi - who is is a target for champions Liverpool - but they are currently planning to strengthen their attacking options in the final two weeks of the transfer window, amid talks with Manchester United winger Alejandro Garnacho and RB Leipzig midfielder Xavi Simons.

Does Maresca already have what he needs?

So what do the statistics say about Colwill compared to the other defensive options Maresca has at his disposal?

At first glance it looks like Colwill's numbers are superior to his rivals having registered the most progressive passes (98), passes under high pressure (817), line breaking passes (350) and chances created (14) in the Premier League last season.

However, he achieves those numbers having simply started more games and, when adjusted on a per game basis in league matches, the picture suddenly favours the club's view.

For example, Adarabioyo and Acheampong are marginally better, achieving one more pass (24) under high pressure than Colwill.

Apart from Fofana and Chalobah, all the alternative options are better than Colwill with progressive passes. Fofana is slightly better when it comes to his 0.46 chances created when compared with his partner's 0.40.

In terms of line breaking passes, Colwill is second with 10 behind Benoit Badiashile's 13.8 per game. In addition, the data doesn't take into account Jorrel Hato, a £37m summer signing from Dutch club Ajax.

There may be intangible elements that are difficult to reflect with data, like Colwill's season on loan under Roberto De Zerbi at Brighton - a coach Maresca regards as one of the best in Europe - while he is also internally regarded as a leader.

Those are difficult to define with statistics but data seems to show the defender can be replaced from within.