Liverpool are reportedly being persistent in their pursuit of Levi Colwill, although Chelsea are so far refusing to budge on their stance on the defender.
As reported by football.london on Wednesday evening, the Reds are very interested in the 20-year-old and have made multiple enquiries about his availability, with some of these occurring ‘in the last few days’.
Jurgen Klopp is understood to be a massive admirer of the centre-back, with the Anfield recruitment team having watched him firsthand on numerous occasions during his loan spell at Brighton last season.
However, Chelsea are unlikely to ‘give Liverpool any encouragement’ in their hopes of signing Colwill, with their new manager Mauricio Pochettino thought to have the England under-21 gem firmly in his plans for the upcoming campaign.
The Blues see him as a player who could be an integral presence at Stamford Bridge for the next decade and are determined to reach an agreement on a potential contract extension, with the adamant message to prospective suitors that he’s not for sale.
With Chelsea having already turned down two bids from Brighton for Colwill, including one worth £40m (football.london), it’s clear that it’ll take something extraordinary for the west Londoners to part with their player.
Among the 6 foot 2 defender’s standout traits is his ability in the air, ranking among the top 5% of positional peers in Europe’s five main leagues for aerial duels won per 90 over the past year with 3.32 per game (FBref).
He’s also adept at getting the ball into attacking areas, with 5.16 progressive passes per match placing him in the 92nd percentile for centre-backs in Europe over the last 12 months (FBref).
Aside from these traits, Colwill would also tick two very important boxes for Liverpool in terms of being English and a left-footed central defender.
The Reds are almost at capacity in terms of their non-homegrown quota for their Premier League squad (Michael Reid on Twitter), while each of their current options in the 20-year-old’s position are mainly right-footed (Transfermarkt).
With Fabrizio Romano claiming in recent days that the Merseysiders are looking for a left-footed defender as a ‘priority’ this summer, expect them to keep testing Chelsea’s resolve for the England under-21 gem, even if the Blues aren’t budging for now.