Liverpool are admirers of Chelsea centre-back Levi Colwill and paying a big transfer fee wouldn’t put them off the deal, according to LFC expert Neil Jones in his exclusive column for CaughtOffside.
Colwill has just had a hugely impressive season on loan at Brighton, but his Chelsea future remains somewhat up in the air as it’s not clear if he’ll manage to get into Mauricio Pochettino’s starting line up on a regular basis next term.
This could surely mean other clubs will try to snap Colwill up, and Jones has made it clear that there has been interest in him from Liverpool for some time now.
The 20-year-old looks like he has a big future at the highest level, and it would be intriguing to see what he could do for a club like Liverpool, who may have to move fast to see off competition from other top clubs for his signature.
Jones says it will ultimately depend on Chelsea’s stance, but as long as they’re open to negotiating for money that isn’t too crazy, Jones can see LFC being in for the England Under-21 international.
“It’s no secret that Liverpool like Levi Colwill, as I reported back in March. Colwill is someone Liverpool really admire, and it’s hardly surprising as he was one of the best centre-backs in the league last season, he’s young, left-footed as well which is something Liverpool want, and I think he’s got a big future ahead of him,” Jones said on Substack.
“The question has always been what Chelsea will do with him. There’s no question that Liverpool and Brighton want him, but it remains a big question if Chelsea are willing to allow him to leave, and at what kind of price. I think there is a possibility that Colwill will look at the situation at Chelsea and says he wants to play regularly and pushes to do so elsewhere if he thinks it’s not going to happen for him at Stamford Bridge.
“I think Chelsea would like him to sign a new contract, but there’s some uncertainty if he’ll do that, but equally the new manager Mauricio Pochettino could put him into the team once he’s back, and then I’m sure everyone would forget about any prospect of him leaving.
“I think if Chelsea were to give any inkling that they were willing to negotiate for Colwill, then I think Liverpool would be right in there. But let’s not forget Chelsea have just sold one of their homegrown prospects in Mason Mount to a Premier League rival, so would they be willing to approve another deal like that? It seems like a big risk on Chelsea’s part, especially when they haven’t really had a good look at him in their first-team. He’s been out on loan, but he hasn’t really had the chance to show what he can do at Chelsea, so let’s see what the player decides, because that could be something that forces Chelsea’s hand and then let’s see what Liverpool can do.
“There’s been talk of Brighton bidding as much as £40m for Colwill, and I don’t necessarily think money would be an issue for Liverpool if it came down to it. They’re slightly unfairly billed as a club who don’t like to splash the cash, but they will do it if it’s for a player they really want. They paid the most anyone had ever paid at the time for a centre-back in Virgil van Dijk, and spent big money on Alisson not long after that, and then there was the big fee for Darwin Nunez just last summer, and then €60m for Dominik Szoboszlai just recently, so if they feel the player is the right player, they could do it.”
He added: “Of course, the risk with that is if Colwill does leave Chelsea this summer, Liverpool surely have to be in the mix now because they don’t want to let him go to somewhere like Manchester City or Arsenal, then the chance is gone. Unless the fee is £100m or something absurd I don’t think it’s going to put Liverpool off, so it depends what Chelsea decide to do.”