Chelsea reject £30m bid for player yet to make first-team debut

Robin Bairner

• 1 Jun 2023 12:17 BST
• 3 min read

Chelsea have turned down a £30 million bid from Brighton for centre-back Levi Colwill, according to reports from Sky Sports.

Colwill has been with the Blues since joining the academy at U9 level but is still waiting on his first appearance for the club.

That debut may never come, with the 20-year-old defender angering Chelsea fans when he pictured himself celebrating the Seagulls’ qualification to European football along with fellow academy graduate Billy Gilmour. It was the timing of Colwill’s post that angered Blues supporters as it arrived as his parent club were being easily beaten by Manchester United in the Premier League.

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According to Sky Sports, Brighton have taken the first steps to make that loan deal permanent, offering Chelsea £30 million for the England U21 player.

The Blues have rebuffed this offer and have no plans to sell Colwill, who spent the 2021/22 season on loan in the Championship with Huddersfield. He is under contract at Stamford Bridge until 2025.

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If Brighton revisit the deal, which is something the player would appear to favour, they will have to raise their offer in order to have any chance of success.

That means making Colwill their record signing, which presently stands at the £30m they have spent on Joao Pedro from Watford.

Brighton are unlikely to be short of cash this summer. The south coast club are expected to make several sales, with Alexis Mac Allister attracting strong interest from Liverpool and Moises Caicedo having agreed to personal terms with Arsenal. Indeed, the Seagulls are confident that Arsenal will match their £75m asking price for the Ecuador international.

Of course, these players will need to be replaced, but the Seagulls have shown a knack of consistently finding gems at bargain prices in recent years.

Nevertheless, it appears that they will have to break the bank if they want to sign Colwill from Chelsea, despite the 20-year-old having only made 17 career Premier League appearances – all of which have come at Brighton.