Chelsea fight to keep hold of star defender amid Liverpool interest

Tom Hancock

• 1 Jul 2023 04:08 CDT
• 3 min read

Prodigious Chelsea centre-back Levi Colwill has emerged as a potential summer transfer target for Liverpool.

The Blues are said to have offered Colwill – who spent last season on loan at Brighton – a new contract, but the 20-year-old has been linked with a number of other Premier League clubs, among them Tottenham.

Born in Southampton, Colwill rose through Chelsea’s youth ranks but has never featured for the first team; he made 17 Premier League appearances for Brighton last term, having been loaned out to Championship Huddersfield Town in 2021/22.

MORE: Chelsea U-turn sparks Man Utd transfer battle

According to the Liverpool Echo, Liverpool are one of the Blues’ domestic rivals keen on Colwill – who has represented England up to U21 level and is currently part of the Young Lions’ squad at the ongoing European Under-21 Championship.

Our in-house Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) model currently rates Colwill at €14.5m (£12.4m) – and, were he to leave for that kind of fee, he could come to look like an absolute bargain a few years from now.

That seems extremely unlikely to happen, though: earlier this month, Chelsea rejected a £40 bid from Brighton to make the defender’s loan switch permanent.

MORE: Premier League 2023/24 summer transfers | All the Done Deals

What will Colwill do now?

Speaking about his future back in May, Colwill – who has two years left to run on his current deal at Stamford Bridge – admitted he wasn’t sure what would come next – and appeared to criticise his parent club. He told The Athletic:

“Brighton have done a lot for me. They put their trust in me when others didn’t and I’m a person that loves to repay that. We’ll see. I don’t know what is going to happen [at Chelsea].

“It's been amazing – every part, on the pitch, off the pitch. I've learnt so many things. I've grown, not just only as a player but as a man too, and I think it's due to the manager and the players. I've just loved every minute of it.

“I'm not someone to predict the future. I take it day by day, but it’s been an amazing journey.”