Thomas Tuchel’s desire to sign two more central defenders to add to his Chelsea squad this summer has reportedly forced club legend John Terry into making an intervention of Levi Colwill.
The German has already captured experienced Napoli centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly in a £33million deal as the Blues boss looks to replace Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen, who left on free transfers for Real Madrid and Barcelona respectively. But Chelsea’s pursuit of two further central defenders, Jules Kounde and Presnel Kimpembe, has caused some concern amongst the fanbase.
Doubts have emerged over the future of academy graduate Colwill, with Terry one of those concerned about his progress being stunted by more senior players. The 19-year-old impressed during a loan spell at Huddersfield last season and was welcomed onto the club’s pre-season tour of the USA before picking up a thigh injury.
It has been speculated that the England Under-21 international is waiting to see if Chelsea make any more signings before deciding whether to leave or stay. But the double arrival of Kounde and Kimpembe would likely force the highly-rated centre-back out of the Stamford Bridge exit door, with several Premier League clubs interested in a permanent deal.
The fact that fellow graduates such as Fikayo Tomori and Marc Guehi have permanently departed last summer to get more regular first-team football and have subsequently thrived at AC Milan and Crystal Palace could tempt him into a move.
Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Southampton and Brighton have all registered their interest in Colwill in case the youngster opts to leave. But it appears there is still one man fighting his corner at Cobham, with Terry pushing Tuchel to give the wonderkid a chance in the first team, according to talkSPORT.
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Tuchel is wasting no time in searching for reinforcements, however, after reviving a deal for long-term target Jules Kounde. The Sevilla defender, 23, nearly joined last summer only for the La Liga outfit to block the deal and demand a higher fee, but it appears Chelsea are now willing to meet his £55m asking price.
Talks are also ongoing for PSG centre-back Presnel Kimpembe, a player Tuchel knows well from his time as PSG boss between 2018 and 2020. But the Ligue 1 champions are demanding around £50m for the 26-year-old, with Chelsea looking to pay a lower fee for the France international.
Terry, one of the trailblazers to emerge from the club’s famed Cobham academy back in 1998, has first-hand knowledge of how difficult it can be to break into the Chelsea team. And now working as a youth coach at the club, it seems Terry, 41, is desperate not to see another talent slip through the net at Stamford Bridge after closely monitoring the ability of Colwill.
However, Tuchel has used the example of Trevoh Chalobah last season — having handed him his debut in last season’s UEFA Super Cup — of how he is willing to give chances to those who deserve them and insisted the club would take their time to make the right decision over his future.
"You always need to find the balance between protecting the path for the guys from the academy and for being able to win," the Chelsea manager told reporters in Los Angeles. "It also doesn't help a young player just to rely on him, and he can't deliver in the first weeks the level that we expect from him, and the fans expect. That would help nobody.
"Trevoh came here as a loan player, and I didn't know him very well, but he stepped up after five or six weeks of pre-season and was reliable. It's in the players' hands – I will never judge somebody because of age or because he is from the academy or from a fantastic club in Europe. That does not matter.”
