Chelsea youngster Levi Colwill has refused to get drawn into discussions surrounding his future at Stamford Bridge while on loan at Brighton. The 20-year-old centre-back has been earmarked for big things and is highly regarded by those in west London.
After impressing for Huddersfield Town in the Championship last season, Colwill was rewarded with a Premier League move last summer, when the Seagulls brought him to the south-coast on a season-long loan. However, Colwill has found regular minutes hard to come by at the Amex, having played in just eight top-flight games this term.
His progress wasn't helped by a muscular injury which kept him sidelined for much of 2023, but his return on Wednesday evening was exemplary, as he helped Roberto De Zerbi's side claim a 1-0 win against arch-rivals Crystal Palace. This performance would have alerted the attention of Blues manager Graham Potter, who has been facing somewhat of a centre-back headache, particularly in the Champions League.
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While the former Brighton boss has recently reverted to a back-three system, he was without both Thiago Silva - through injury - and Benoît Badiashile - who was omitted from that particular squad - for the recent win against Borussia Dortmund. Should Colwill end this campaign strongly, he could thrust himself into the conversation for next season.
However, the youngster has put discussions over his Blues future on the back burner, instead choosing to focus on helping his current side push for a place in Europe. “I haven’t thought about it, to be honest, every day I am working hard and that’s all I am focusing on,” he said after the win over Palace.
“If I start planning for the future, then everything might not go well here and everything then changes. This is my main priority right now to work hard with my teammates.
"I have loved every minute of being here. I have learned so much even when I wasn’t playing, now I am getting minutes after coming back from injury so I can’t complain.”
Brighton were eager to sign Colwill on a permanent basis last summer, when the two clubs were locked in talks about the sale of Marc Cucurella in the opposite direction. However, Chelsea are understood to be determined to keep hold of the promising defender, as they chose to pay more for Cucurella rather than agreeing to a swap arrangement.
Being a left-footed centre-back that is comfortable on the ball, his attributes are frequently sought-after but rarely acquired by top clubs. However, Chelsea have since signed Badiashile, who is a similar profile and age to the Cobham graduate.
This summer, Colwill will have entered the final two years of his current deal, and could be a man in high demand if the Blues can't agree to offer him more regular first-team action. Now he is back to full fitness and back in the Seagulls starting line-up, he could help create a truly memorable end of the season for Brighton, who are still fighting on two fronts.
“We keep pushing and we don’t want to set a goal because we can do anything,” he added. “That is what we believe and every day we are working hard to achieve these goals.
“We’ve got Grimsby now on Sunday, it is still a big game and that’s how we need to think about it to come here and win while working hard for it.” Colwill is also regarded by many as an England international centre-back of the future, and could play himself into contention for Euro 2024.
Although he is proud to be playing for the Under-21s, he admitted his dream would be to play for the senior Three Lions outfit. “That’s the end goal,” he said. “It would be a great honour to play for England one day. But it is also an honour to play for the Under-21s like always. You can never take that away and they will be two big games.
“I enjoy meeting up with them a lot. New faces, meeting new people and with the same end goal to win games and I like it so much.”
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