Chelsea have rejected a £30m bid from Brighton for Levi Colwill and are determined not to sell the centre-back.
Colwill has just returned from an impressive season on loan at Brighton, who are not the only team tracking him. Chelsea are under pressure to sell players but rate the the England Under-21s international highly and want him as part of Mauricio Pochettino’s squad.
Chelsea’s preference is for Colwill, one of their best academy talents, to sign a long-term contract. The 20-year-old’s deal expires in 2026. An option to extend by a year depends on Colwill playing a certain number of games.
Colwill’s thinking on his future is likely to depend on whether he can see a pathway into Chelsea’s first team. He faces competition from another left-sided centre-back in Benoît Badiashile, who joined from Monaco in January. The view in the club is that there is no issue with defying convention and playing two left-footed centre-backs in the same team.
It is likely that Pochettino will give Colwill a chance to show he can compete with Badiashile, Thiago Silva, Kalidou Koulibaly, Trevoh Chalobah and Wesley Fofana. Chalobah and Koulibaly could leave.
Chelsea, who retain an interest in the Brighton midfielder Moisés Caicedo, could be forced into difficult decisions if they struggle to attract offers for fringe players.
Mateo Kovacic has been given permission to talk to Manchester Cjty and Mason Mount has agreed terms with Manchester United, who still need to agree a fee for the midfielder with Chelsea. Milan want Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Conor Gallagher is attracting interest and Callum Hudson-Odoi will be allowed to leave.
Conor Coady has left Everton after the club decided not to sign the England international on a permanent basis. Everton had an option to sign the defender for £4.5m as part of his season’s loan from Wolves and will look elsewhere for central defenders.
The 30-year-old made 25 appearances for Everton and played a vital role in preserving the club’s Premier League status on the final day against Bournemouth. He was a regular fixture under Frank Lampard but lost his place to Michael Keane shortly after the arrival of Sean Dyche, who regarded Coady as better suited to a three-man central defence than a back four.
The Portuguese left-back Rúben Vinagre has returned to Sporting Lisbon after an unsuccessful loan at Everton.
