Levi Colwill and Behdad Eghbali spotted with former Chelsea target hours before Brighton clash

Levi Colwill was seen in the tunnel at Stade de la Meinau following Strasbourg's 2-1 defeat to Marseille. The Chelsea defender suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in the summer, shortly after returning to pre-season training at Cobham.

Enzo Maresca initially announced that Colwill had sustained a knock, but the club later confirmed that the 'problem' was more serious than initially thought. The England international subsequently underwent surgery, which could keep him out of action for much 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.

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On Friday night, Colwill was in the company of 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. The Blues representatives were present as Marseille came from behind to defeat Strasbourg.

Abdoul Ouattara put the BlueCo outfit ahead shortly after half-time before Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang levelled the score in the final quarter of an hour. Michael Amir Murillo scored the winning goal for Roberto De Zerbi's side in added time.

After the match, Colwill and Jewell met their former Brighton colleague in the tunnel. French television later caught the moment Eghbali embraced and exchanged a few words with De Zerbi.

According to football.london, Chelsea considered appointing the Italian as head coach last summer. When the Blues gave Mauricio Pochettino his marching orders in May 2024, De Zerbi was on a four-man shortlist, alongside Maresca, of possible replacements.

In the end, Chelsea secured the former Leicester City gaffer on a five-year deal. Upon bagging his signature, the west London club's owners 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 had a cracking first year or so at Chelsea, bagging the Club World Cup and the Conference League. The Blues have recently been dealt a blow with a spate of injuries, so the Italian will be eager to steady the ship before launching another quest for trophies.

"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 journalists at Cobham 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," added 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."

Regarding the consequences of participating in 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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