In the summer of 2010, Lebron James announced what his next move would be following 7 years of incredible personal success (including back-to-back Most Valuable Player of the Year awards) with the Cleveland Cavaliers that had ultimately failed to deliver the one award he coveted the most: the NBA Championship. There were rumblings from various journalists about his potential suitors; some thought he would stay and enhance his legacy with the team that drafted him, whilst others thought that ‘The King’ could be tempted by the bright lights and glamour of New York or Los Angeles (with the Knicks and Clippers franchises respectively).
Ultimately Lebron divulged that he would “take (his) talents to South Beach and the Miami Heat”. He would form a super team with fellow All-Stars Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosch, while enjoying the climate (and tax breaks) of Florida. The move sent shockwaves around America, not just for the adjudged betrayal of the franchise that made Lebron a star, but also due to the manner of his exit, which he announced live on air during a one-hour ESPN broadcast.
Comparing Levi Colwill to one of the greatest athletes of all time may be slightly premature even for the most diehard academy aficionados. But imagine if the 20-year-old confirmed that he would finalise his future live on Sky Sports News this summer, putting to bed the months of speculation that has surrounded him. At this moment in time, it would appear that, like with Lebron, there are three paths open to him:
- Remaining loyal to Chelsea, the club that has nurtured his vast potential from the age of eight.
- Being swayed by the bright lights and glamour of Brighton Palace Pier (AKA the Times Square of the South Coast of England) and making his loan move to the Seagulls permanent.
- Taking his talents to South (Crosby) Beach and joining Liverpool.
So, what will Colwill tell Geoff Shreeves and the millions of viewers watching worldwide. What will his decision be?
When Colwill was unceremoniously dumped on loan to Brighton last season, despite playing an integral part as a starter for Huddersfield in their run to the Championship play-off final, it seemed as though he would be following a well-trodden path. Like Fikayo Tomori and Marc Guehi before him, it appeared that he would be sold by Chelsea, despite his immense talent, in order to fund big money moves for flashier names from further afield that would inevitably end up flopping at Stamford Bridge.
Almost as if to provide evidence for this theory, the Blues went out and bought in the £32 million, 31-year-old left-sided centre back Kalidou Koulibaly. In part due to the series of poor performances from the veteran on huge wages, the club decided to buy another left-sided centre back, Benoit Badiashille, in January for a similar fee. Both of these moves gave the impression that Colwill would be flipped for cash in the summer, in an attempt to fill the gaping hole in Chelsea’s books left by the scatter-gun approach of the new ownership.
However, with the sale of Koulibaly, the long-term injury of Badiashille, and the astonishing form with which Colwill completed his season-long loan with Brighton, it seems that Chelsea are desperate to tie down their home-grown star to a new deal. With two years, plus an additional year to be triggered dependant on gametime, left on Colwill’s contract, owners Boehly and Clearlake Capital are keen to avoid another Mason Mount situation. Losing another academy graduate running down their contract for a snip of their potential value would hit both the Chelsea fans and the club’s accounts hard.
Unsurprisingly Colwill is cautious of committing to Chelsea long-term. Following an outstanding campaign at the under-21 European Championships as part of a defence that kept six clean sheets from six games during England’s procession to the title, Colwill has never held so much power. Having felt slighted by Tuchel and Chelsea last summer, and only just avoiding being made a makeweight in the Cucurella deal, the youngster wants assurances of gametime from new Chelsea supremo Mauricio Pochettino. Left-footed centre backs are worth their weight in gold, especially those with the passing range of Colwill, and so it was no surprise to hear that Pochettino has already phoned the centre back despite being in his first week in the managerial position.
With Thiago Silva being slowly phased out and questions being asked about Trevoh Chalobah’s future, now could be the time for Colwill to nail down a starting spot at his childhood club. Chelsea will feel that the ball is still firmly in their court, but Colwill wants to feel valued. The contract offered must reflect his burgeoning reputation, otherwise a repeat of the Mount situation shouldn’t be discounted.
There are many fans on the south cost of England who will argue that Colwill shouldn’t take a ‘step down’ by returning to Chelsea and spurning Brighton’s advances. This would have been deemed unfathomable during the Abramovich era, however with the help of Colwill and the magic of Italian manager Roberto De Zerbi, the Seagulls capped off a historic season by sealing a place in the Europa League for the coming campaign. Chelsea, meanwhile, cannot offer European football of any sort following a miserable campaign that resulted in a 12th-place finish.
The impact of the west Londoner’s failure to qualify for Europe damages their attraction to Levi Colwill in two ways. Chelsea cannot offer him the opportunity to sample European football that Brighton can, with the direct consequence of this being fewer minutes to share around what still remains a slightly bloated squad. There will not be a Callum Hudson-Odoi style run in the Europa League that paves the way for his integration into regular first team football, so Colwill will have to trust that Pochettino will be willing to start him in the Premier League ahead of more experienced names (Silva, Chalobah and particularly the left-sided Badiashille).
Rejoining Brighton would also provide Colwill with the opportunity to prolong his impressive partnership with Lewis Dunk at the back, with competition from 6-foot-3 Adam Webster keeping him on his toes. Despite playing a cumulative 12 minutes of Premier League minutes up until the 16th game week of last season, Colwill started 13 of the final 23 games (his absence for five of these games due to a torn muscle). The Cobham academy graduate also spoke glowingly about De Zerbi and his exciting brand of football, crediting him with his monumental improvement last season and stating, “I’m happy to have worked under him”. The feeling is clearly mutual and De Zerbi will be desperate to bring him back next season, a sentiment backed up by the club record bid lodged for the defender.
Whilst there would be plenty of first team opportunities at Brighton next season and at least for the first few weeks of the season at Chelsea following Badiashille’s injury, Colwill’s other major suitor doesn’t seem to provide as clear a pathway to regular action. Liverpool happen to have one of the finest left-sided centre backs that the Premier League has ever seen on their books, and at 32 years of age Virgil van Dijk shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. The injury-prone Ibrahima Konate partners van Dijk superbly when fit, with Joel Matip and Joe Gomez providing cover when Konate’s body fails him. So, if game time is Colwill’s number one priority, it seems a move to Liverpool wouldn’t appeal to him.
However, this argument doesn’t account for legendary manager Jurgen Klopp and the exciting squad that is currently much better placed to challenge for the most coveted silverware than Chelsea. With the Blues firmly set in rebuild mode under the impressive Mauricio Pochettino, Liverpool have splashed out on midfield duo Dominik Szoboszlai and Alexis MacAllister as they push to reattain their place at the zenith of European football. Colwill would have the opportunity to learn from the best in van Dijk, as well as the chance to challenge himself against the likes Mohammed Salah, Luis Diaz and company in training. The confident youngster would back himself to usurp one of the current first-choice centre backs in the next couple of seasons.
Over the coming weeks, with the 2023/24 season looming large, Chelsea will do their utmost to convince Colwill to commit his future to the club. The contract and promises offered must be in keeping with his reputation as one-of-if-not-the most exciting centre back prospects in Europe, as there are plenty of other suitors in the rear-view mirror. The interested parties all have different selling points, and all three clubs are in very different situations at the time of writing this article. Following the high of European under-21 success, Colwill has a huge decision to make. All that’s left now is to tell the world where he plans to take his talents in the new season.
The Chelsea Spot 
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