Unfortunately for Levi Colwill, Sunday afternoon would have been the first time a significant number of Chelsea eyes would have been on him. His own goal just before half-time proved to be the only goal in a tense Championship play-off final with Huddersfield losing out to Nottingham Forest at Wembley.
The own-goal itself was one of those impossible moments for defenders, Colwill had to act to prevent James Garner's cross from causing harm but inadvertently saw his clearance sky into the top of Lee Nicholls' net.
Speaking after the game though Colwill did not appear to show much fear or regret, only aiming to use this minor setback as motivation.
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“There wasn’t much I could do about the goal." Colwill told Goal. "I just wanted to block it but he kicked my knee up and it hit it. I didn't know what to say but I thought f*** it. I’ve got to play on and help the team. That’s what I tried to do. It was just unfortunate. It is football, bad luck, I won’t let it stop me or get my head down.
“It has been the best year of my life. I am proud. The staff and team have been brilliant. We had great togetherness and I am proud to be part of this team."
Colwill is already being tracked by a host of Premier League clubs, either searching for a loan deal or in efforts to sign him permanently should Chelsea be open to offers. But this would be a sad repeat of last summer's event following the play-off final. 12 months ago it was Marc Guehi on the losing side for Swansea, two months later he would sign for Crystal Palace for £20m after not agreeing to a new deal with the Blues.
Guehi quickly established himself as a regular in Patrick Vieira's new-look defence, gaining 42 appearances in total for The Eagles in the 2021/22 season, racking up over 3,000 Premier League minutes and is considered one of the league's best young defenders.
Colwill is already predicted to enjoy a similar trajectory after a highly beneficial loan with Carlos Corberan's Terriers and there is hope this year that we will not see a repeat of the Guehi situation play out. A great plus for the Todd Boehly consortium is that the academy graduate penned a new deal last summer that keeps him at the club till 2025.
Secondly is the room within the squad, particularly on the left side of Thomas Tuchel's defence following the departure of Antonio Rudiger to Real Madrid and the need to find a suitable replacement. As Trevoh Chalobah proved last summer, internal solutions can quickly slot into the first-team despite not having any previous minutes in the Premier League.
Valuing Cobham will prove essential in the coming years and the fact Colwill is already attracting interest from the likes of Arsenal and Leicester in the transfer window should indicate how much of a talent the Blues have at their disposal to promote for the 2022/23 season.
