Huddersfield Town News 24/7 

Is Levi Colwill a player that Chelsea should be worried about losing

16/07/2022

Huddersfield has been the stomping ground for much of England's top prospects in recent seasons (albeit mostly temporarily). Ben Chilwell, Trevoh Chalobah, Conor Coady, Emile Smith-Rowe have all previously made a move to West Yorkshire, while last season Tino Anjorin and Levi Colwill did the same. The latter was pivotal in Huddersfield's unlikely push for another season in the Premier League.

They say never fall in love with loan players, but I think it is hard to when they are as down-to-earth, humble and as brilliant as Levi Colwill is. He may have only played 32 times in all competitions, but it was the rapport that he managed to kindle with the Huddersfield faithful (and quickly) that was impressive. The last-minute winner against Sheffield United in only his fifth game, while his family were regulars, from Southampton travelling home and away to watch him, made him just so likeable.

His future at Chelsea is up in the air, with Colwill demanding assurances over his game time for him to have a long-term future at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea has seen an increasing number of their academy graduates being sold rather than loaned out, Tino Livramento, Tariq Lamptey, Fikayo Tomori, Marc Guehi and Tammy Abraham being all examples of this. There has certainly been a shift in mentality for these younger players who are preferring to sign permanently at a club that plays in the top leagues rather than just on loan. So could Colwill follow suit?

How did he do at Huddersfield?

For an 18 year old who had moved up to a completely different part of the country, away from his family in his first season in professional football, he coped and performed magnificently.

He made 32 appearances in all competitions out of 54 possible fixtures, which doesn't exactly scream star player or a player that was the sole reason Huddersfield got to the playoff final. If you ask some Town fans, they wouldn't even say he was Town's best centre back last season, Tom Lees was arguably better, but at the same time, there was a limit with Lees. Colwill gave Town that extra dimension, his passing range was second to none while the defensive side of the game was equally as good.

It would be fair to say that he has had a few rough experiences last season and that is probably why I wouldn't rate him as Town's best centre-back last year. Equally though, when Colwill was at his best, no one in that Town squad could match him.

Fulham was a big eye-opener for him, he was out of position on numerous occasions and looked like a deer in headlights, it was the best opposition he had ever faced, but he quickly learnt that if he was going to make it, then he would need to learn and fast! Against Nottingham Forest in September, he got effortlessly powered past by Brennan Johnson, resulting in Forest's opening goal of the game. Furthermore, he was suspended by October for accumulating five yellow cards, but he didn't receive another yellow card all season after the ban.

The point I am making is, that he did make mistakes, but importantly, he learnt from them. The match winner at Bramall Lane, the opening goal against the 'Small Heath Alliance', apparently they are also called Birmingham City and the assist for the point at Peterborough, Colwill was so integral offensively as well as defensively for Town.

The only other slight concern was his fitness, being a centre back in the Championship is so physically demanding, and Colwill had two separate injuries - an ankle and hamstring injury. He also missed 3 games from knocks, but this is natural for a young player in his first season in the professional game, especially a centre-back.

Is he a project that Chelsea is worth pursuing?

He is going to make mistakes, he made a few at Town and they might be in important games, but that doesn't mean that he isn't a project worth sticking with. Chelsea has Trevoh Chalobah, Ethan Ampadu, Malang Sarr, Kalidou Koulibaly and Thiago Silva in the senior squad under contract next season but they are also looking at signing former academy graduate Nathan Ake, Presnel Kimpembe from PSG and long term target Jules Kounde. Obviously, the loss of Rudiger who played in that left centre back role is huge, and Colwill who is left footed unlike Rudiger, would fit in there perfectly.

The problem Chelsea has is that their club model is about what success can they obtain in the next 12 months. Koulibaly, Ake and Kimpembe are better players than Colwill at the moment, and the same was said for Tomori 18 months ago, but I would place him above each of those players now. People are making comparisons to Marc Geuhi and Fikayo Tomori, both excellent centre-backs, but it's chalk and cheese, Colwill is a cut above both of them when they were all 19, so it makes the debate to sell him, even more baffling. Have Chelsea not learnt their lesson?

If Chelsea chooses to let him go, then for me, it would be worse transfer business than re-signing Romelu Lukaku for £100 million from Inter Milan only to loan him back to them a year later for £10 million for the season. If Chelsea goes through one or two seasons of embedding him into their squad, giving him minutes without pressuring his every mistake, then Chelsea genuinely will have their starting centre-back for at least the next 10 seasons.

Should he stay at Chelsea?

Southampton, Leicester, Everton, Brighton, Crystal Palace, Arsenal and even AC Milan have registered interest in the left footed defender. I would argue that a move to any of those sides would present Colwill with an opportunity to impress, but realistically would he be affordable to any of them? You would expect Chelsea to want upwards of £20 million for the England U-21 international, and given the price, some may see it as too big a risk.

Another option available to him is a loan, but given Chelsea's desire to reshape the squad and Colwill being a very salable asset, it seems more likely that he will be sold than loaned out.

Obviously, the final option is that he is brought into the first team at Chelsea, and Colwill has every right to demand he is. The problem is systemic with Chelsea, create an academy that is one of the best producers of talent in the world, let their manager sign whoever they want, but only give them a year to bring success and if they don't they are out. With this attitude, managers never really want to trust the youth at Chelsea, Lampard brought through several academy players and gave them a chance, which was the right call, even though it cost him his job.

Verdict

Colwill and Chelsea are at a crossroads, Levi wants to get regular game time in the top flight, but it is whether Chelsea is willing to offer it. I think they should, but equally, I know that Chelsea is impatient and expect success straight away. A fee surplus of £20 million would be a very decent return for a player, yet to even make his senior Chelsea debut.

As an England fan, I want us as a nation to do as well as possible and I see Colwill as a future centre-back and potentially captain. So from that standpoint, I want Colwill to become as good a player as possible, so it doesn't matter to me if Levi leaves.

Getting back to the original point, should Chelsea be worried about losing Colwill? The answer is no, they won't be. They know that they can replace anyone. The people that should be worried at Chelsea however, is the academy players, which in future could worry Chelsea. The players and their parents for that matter will think: 'Why are we travelling 2 hours a day to go to Chelsea, when there is no first team progression. If Levi Colwill can't make it there and he is arguably the most promising centre-back through Cobham since John Terry, why waste my time?'

Potentially players are going to start playing for the 'smaller' clubs' academies, because they know they have a better chance of making it into a first team. They can do it with the knowledge that if they are good enough, then Chelsea will sign them. This will harm Chelsea in the future if top talents are choosing to sign for rivals, because of them not being an attractive entity to sign for.