Levi Colwill is set to delay his decision over whether to sign a new contract at Chelsea until the club have appointed a new manager.
Colwill has impressed during his season-long loan at Brighton, despite only actually making 10 Premier League appearances for the Seagulls this campaign, with suggestions even being that he is close to an England call-up.
He is due to return to Chelsea this summer where he has two years remaining on the four-year deal he signed back in 2021. The Blues do have an option to extend it by a further year, though that will only be triggered if the defender plays a certain amount of games for the first team.
According to The Athletic, Colwill ‘held talks’ over a new deal at Stamford Bridge earlier this year, though is now ‘expected to wait’ until the club appoints a new manager before making a decision about a contract extension.
The 20-year-old is said to ‘appreciate’ that any new coach will ‘have his own opinion’ as well as potential transfer targets to suit their preferred style of play.
Colwill’s route to the first team already looks extremely difficult, with Chelsea having an abundance of defensive talent within their ranks. The Blues have Thiago Silva, Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Cesar Azpilicueta, Kalidou Koulibaly, Benoit Badiashile and Marc Cucurella among their central defensive options, with the latter three – all signing this season – playing in Colwill’s preferred left side of defence.
Chelsea are currently languishing in 11th in the Premier League and have lost all three games under interim manager Frank Lampard, and look increasingly likely to miss out on European football altogether, potentially making opportunities for Colwill even harder to come by next season.
The report says that Chelsea have ‘no intention’ of either selling or loaning him out this summer, though if he refuses to put pen to paper on a new deal, their policy of keeping their best young talent could come under pressure.
Manchester City, Liverpool and Brighton are all said to be interested in the defender.
