Levi Colwill has played every minute of Chelsea’s Premier League campaign so far and barely put a foot wrong. His performances have been one of the many highlights of our start to the season under Enzo Maresca.

Having spent much of last term playing at left-back, the 21-year-old has developed a good understanding with Wesley Fofana in the heart of our defence this time around. He has consistently showcased his technical, tactical and physical qualities that bely his tender years.

Colwill puts a lot of his progress down to the work Maresca has done with him, as he explained ahead of our trip to Old Trafford to take on Manchester United.

‘My role has changed a lot,’ said Colwill.

‘I’m playing back in my natural position and the way Enzo has us set up allows me to play my best football, show off my ability and to play more passes into midfield to start attacks.

‘As a team, the way we want to play is totally different. We’re not looking to attack as fast as possible, we’re making sure our attacks are calculated and we attack goal when we’ve created the right space to put us in the best place to score. Things like that can take us to the next level.

‘He’s a perfectionist,’ Colwill adds of Maresca.

‘Even though we’ve got young players in the dressing room, he doesn’t treat us like that. The standards he sets are so high and that’s what we need to hit every day.

‘It doesn’t matter if it’s training or playing a match, you’ve got to be on your A game and give everything you can to him, and he gives that back. That’s why he is an amazing manager and will do amazing things in football.’

Colwill acknowledges he wasn’t able to play his best football during what was, he says, a tough first season in Chelsea’s senior squad, but he gleaned so much from the experience that will benefit him down the line.

‘It put me in a good place to keep going and put fire into my belly to prove people wrong,’ he stresses. ‘That is what I’m trying to show this season: that I’m a good player, that I believe in myself, and there’s a reason the gaffer believes in me.

Colwill continues: ‘Individually, I’m trying to put my body on the line more for the team because I know how much it means for us to win games and get points.

‘That difference of blocking a shot and not going for it can be a huge difference. It can change results. As a team, we’re building bonds together and competing.’

Another player clearly taking strides forward in his second season in the Chelsea team is Nicolas Jackson.

The Senegalese striker has already netted six goals this season and will be hoping to add to that tally at Old Trafford. Colwill detailed exactly what it is that makes Jackson such a force leading the Chelsea attack.

‘Nico is an amazing player. He is still so young and his last season was his first coming into the Premier League. I thought he did amazingly with the chances he created, the goals he scored, and he does so much more for our team than people see.

‘Everything thinks because he’s a striker it’s about goals, goals, goals, which you do expect, but what he brings to the team is so more than that. He brings us up the pitch, wins fouls, the way he turns on the ball as you saw against Newcastle.

‘He’s an amazing player and this season, step by step, he’s getting better all the time.’

The same verdict could be applied to Colwill and, indeed, this Chelsea team. The individual and collective development is sure fun to watch.