Levi Colwill steps up recovery and offers Chelsea a glimpse of what they've been missing

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Back on July 13, Colwill experienced the greatest high of his career when he was part of the side who beat Paris Saint-Germain 3-0 in the first final of FIFA’s expanded Club World Cup. Later that month, he was talking excitedly to The Athletic about his hopes of the west London club challenging for this season’s Premier League title and his chance to play in the Champions League for the first time. Within two weeks, those dreams were shattered. An anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury sustained on his first day of pre-season training has kept him out of the senior side ever since. It has been a long and difficult process to return to fitness. He told Sky Sports recently just how tough doing the rehab has been and that, at times, he wondered what the point of it all was. “It’s a humbling experience,” the 23-year-old said. “It shows you what life’s about. I mean, you can never be too high, because it will bring you down. And that’s what happened to me.” Colwill has been feeling a lot more upbeat of late. Training has stepped up over the past few weeks and, eight days ago, he played 60 minutes in a friendly with Chelsea Under-21s behind closed doors at the club’s training ground. Sources speaking anonymously to The Athletic to protect relationships say Liam Rosenior, who was fired from his job as Chelsea head coach on Wednesday, was instrumental in finding their opponents — West African country Liberia’s under-20s national team. Colwill came through that unscathed, but facing Middlesbrough Under-21s today in a match where something was actually at stake — progression to the PL2 quarter-finals — represented a more significant step. Perhaps an indication of the importance of Colwill’s presence, as well as how much the fixture mattered to the under-21s, was the sight of Chelsea’s co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Sam Jewell in the stands in south-west London. The England international centre-half was made captain for the day, and you could tell he was taking his responsibilities seriously from the get-go, shouting encouragement to his less experienced team-mates in the warm-up. The big question was how he would fare once the game got underway. Admittedly, he was not up against future 2025 Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembele as he was that day in the U.S. state of New Jersey last July but, regardless, Colwill looked just as assured as he had in that summer encounter with European champions PSG. It took just 30 seconds for him to demonstrate his defensive qualities, winning a header against Frankie Coulson. Chelsea goalkeeper Max Merrick shouted “Yes, Levi!” as Colwill calmly headed it back to him under pressure in the fifth minute. Chelsea’s youngsters had finished top of PL2 and so benefited from a home draw against 16th-ranked Middlesbrough. But, initially, there was no obvious gulf between the sides. Colwill was in the right place at the right time to intercept dangerous crosses from George McCormick and Coulson. He almost opened the scoring, too. The centre-half towered above the visiting defence to head Leo Cardoso’s corner towards goal, only for the ball to be cleared off the line. Chelsea and Colwill’s task appeared to be made tougher when winger Ryan Kavuma-McQueen was sent off before the interval. But it did not seem to deter the returning first-team player. Former Chelsea captain John Terry, also in attendance, appreciated the beautifully weighted pass from his fellow centre-half which put Landon Emenalo in the clear. However, Colwill was less impressed with his own efforts 10 minutes later as he overhit another attempted pass out for a goal kick. “Oh, Levi!” he shouted at himself in frustration. Regardless, he went close to scoring again at a corner — Owen Foster tipped his flighted header onto the bar — before the hosts’ pressure finally told. Mathis Eboue, son of former Arsenal defender Emmanuel, found the bottom corner to put Chelsea 1-0 up just after the hour. Our U21s are into the quarter-finals of the #PL2 play-offs!! 💙🔥 pic.twitter.com/naVQ9xNSGf — Chelsea FC (@ChelseaFC) April 25, 2026 Encouragingly, Colwill’s interventions at the back continued as Middlesbrough pushed for an equaliser. There were no signs of fatigue. The ease with which he took the ball off Cruz Ibeh left the latter looking utterly dejected. His leadership qualities were on show, too. Eboue was upset and moaning to the referee for a few seconds after being booked for a rash challenge on Josh Dede, but Colwill walked over, had a few words with his young team-mate to calm him down and patted him on the back. Eboue then walked over to Dede to apologise. The initial plan was for Colwill to get to the 60 to 70 minutes mark and see if he wanted to come off. The co-sporting directors, clearly impressed with all they had seen, departed 10 minutes before the end of the 90 but Colwill chose to complete the match — including over nine minutes of added time. He headed for the tunnel with a big smile on his face, signing some autographs for fans along the way and telling observers he was delighted with how it had all gone. The club will now gauge how Colwill’s body reacts to playing a full game again at long last, but will be encouraged that he was experiencing no discomfort immediately after the final whistle. There may be another under-21 appearance to come, against Tottenham in the last eight on Friday, but his chances of making a first-team comeback before the end of the campaign in a month’s time are fully on course. Sources speaking anonymously to The Athletic to protect relationships say the club see Colwill’s long absence as one of the factors behind why they have struggled to build on last season’s achievements in winning the UEFA Conference League and Club World Cup. Saturday’s game was just a little reminder of what they have been missing — and are about to have at their disposal once again. Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms