With interest hotting up around Chelsea youngster Levi Colwill, do Liverpool stand a chance of securing his signature?
Liverpool “really like” Chelsea’s exciting young centre-back Levi Colwill but, contrary to reports, are “not negotiating anything” as they know that the player is “untouchable”, claims transfers expert Fabrizio Romano.
Is Levi Colwill joining Liverpool?
After a poor season by their own high standards last year, the Reds have made a brilliant start to the transfer window so far, surprising some with their willingness to spend.
The first name through the door at Anfield was Brighton & Hove Albion’s World Cup-winning midfielder Alexis Mac Allister who reportedly cost the club just £35m from the Southcoast side.
Following the Argentinian was RB Leipzig’s exciting Hungarian midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai, who chose Liverpool over Newcastle United and cost the Merseyside outfit a hefty £60m.
With the midfield getting most of the attention so far, the idea of a new centre-back has been floating around, with Chelsea’s Colwill being a name many have attached to the club.
According to football.london, Liverpool ‘remain interested’ in the 20-year-old, but transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has confirmed that the Reds are not likely to make a bid anytime soon as they recognise that Chelsea have little interest in selling him.
He explained the situation on his YouTube channel, saying:
“It’s true that Liverpool really like Levi Colwill but they are not negotiating anything because they know that the player at the moment is untouchable, he is not for sale for Chelsea, so it’s very clear.”
How good was Levi Colwill last season?
It was the Southampton-born gem’s breakout season last year, and from his performances and statistics, it’s not hard to see why so many top clubs are interested in him.
According to WhoScored, the “fantastic” defender averaged a match rating of 6.54 across his 17 Premier League appearances for the Seagulls last year, maintaining a pass success rate of 88.6% per game.
These performances led manager Roberto De Zerbi to wax lyrical about the youngster on more than one occasion; after their victory away to Arsenal, he said:
“I think the best example of courage was Colwill in this game. We defended man-to-man, and Colwill’s man was Odegaard. Colwill went 90 minutes to defend with Odegaard 80 metres from Jason Steele. This is courage.
“I would like to work with him for another two, three, four years because it’s difficult to find another left centre-back with his qualities.”
He’s a player that has easily passed the eye test for those that have already seen him play, and his underlying numbers just reinforce his ability as they are exceptional.
According to FBref, who compare players in a similar position across Europe’s top five leagues, Colwill sits in the top 1% for assists and attempted passes, top 5% for non-penalty expected goals and aerials won, top 7% for shot-creating actions, top 8% for progressive passes, and the top 12% for progressive carries, all per 90.
If that wasn’t enough, then FBref have also ranked Virgil Van Dijk as the third most similar player to Colwill out of every defender in Europe’s top five leagues.
With his performances over the last 12 months and his potential to get even better, it makes sense why Chelsea won’t even entertain the idea of selling Colwill. Still, perhaps Liverpool should test the water anyway.
