Chelsea have emphatically rejected a £30m bid from Brighton for centre-back Levi Colwill, and a report claims the young England ace will be favoured by Mauricio Pochettino who wants to boot out a mistake signing.
Colwill, 20, has earned rave reviews for his performances while on loan at Brighton this season. Seagulls boss Roberto De Zerbi has made no secret of his desire to reunite with the left-footed centre-half next year.
The Italian recently said: “I hope he can play with us also next year, but it’s his decision and decision of Chelsea.
“I don’t know. We have to be ready to change some players but of course Levi is a top player for us.”
Now, according to Sky Sports, Brighton have acted on their interest and lodged a £30m bid for Colwill. Per the outlet, Chelsea have ‘rejected outright’ the proposal.
The Blues reportedly have ‘no plans’ to sell Colwill who is universally viewed as a future England international.
Indeed, Sky state Colwill is ‘widely considered by coaches and scouts to be emerging as the best young left-footed English centre-back’.
Chelsea have made missteps in the market in the recent past, including over centre-halves who’ve gone on to become England internationals. Fikayo Tomori is thriving at AC Milan, while Marc Guehi continues to impress at Crystal Palace.
The Blues won’t make the same mistake with Colwill, with the Evening Standard noting he could actually displace Kalidou Koulibaly in Chelsea’s starting eleven next season.
Koulibaly was a £33m signing from Napoli last summer, though the veteran Senegalese has failed to replicate the form he produced in his 20s.
The Standard state Chelsea will try to offload Koulibaly, though acknowledge it’ll be difficult to do so thanks to his age (turns 32 this month) and £200,000-a-week salary.
In any case, whether Koulibaly is sold or simply relegated to the bench, it appears Colwill may quickly emerge in Pochettino’s best eleven.
The Standard conclude Colwill is part of Pochettino’s plans and their quick refusal of Brighton’s sizeable bid is further proof of that.
