'Hard to convince him': Now a key player, Chelsea star really wanted to leave in 2023 after £30m bid
It is incredible to think that, despite spending almost £300m last summer, Todd Boehly and Clearlake’s annual spending at Chelsea has actually slowly decreased over the years.
It was around the £550m mark during Boehly’s first season after his takeover from Roman Abramovich in 2022. A season in which Enzo Fernandez, Wesley Fofana, and Mykhailo Mudryk were all brought in.
Then, around £400m during 23-24, and about £300m across the next two seasons, including the current campaign. To subsidise that, Chelsea have also raked in the cash from player sales throughout that period.
This season, for example, Chelsea spent just as much as they brought in, selling the likes of Christopher Nkunku and Noni Madueke. But back in the summer of 2023, they could have sold a defender for £30m.
Jesus Perez on having to convince Levi Colwill to return
It’s the summer of 2023, and Levi Colwill is returning to Chelsea after a loan at Brighton. The season prior, Colwill had spent the season with Huddersfield and currently, he is at the U21 Euros with England.
Speaking to the High Performance Podcast, then-assistant manager Jesus Perez – Mauricio Pochettino’s loyal and most-trusted advisor – explains how Colwill did not want to return to Chelsea from Brighton.
Indeed, Sky Sports claim Brighton made a £30m offer to keep Colwill permanently. But Perez shares how a conversation with Pochettino changed Colwill’s mind, and although injured, Colwill is now a key player.
“Levi Colwill wasn’t sure about coming back to Chelsea. During the summer, we were talking to him – he was at the Euros (U21’s). It was really hard to convince him to come back,” Perez recalled from 2023.
“But they had an amazing connection. You [Pochettino] said: ‘Listen, all the big centre-backs in the world, when they were young, with your technique and your physicality, they have all played in different roles.
“Left-back, centre-back. Then, when you start to play regularly at centre-back, it will be super easy for you. From that point on, he was fully convinced that we were the best for him,” the current USA assistant said.
Who is Chelsea’s best centre-back when everyone is fit?
Colwill would go on to play 32 times for Chelsea under Pochettino that season, before injury curtailed his campaign for the last couple of months. He even captained Chelsea in that period, under the Argentine.
A key player throughout 2024-25 under Enzo Maresca, Colwill then picked up an ACL injury last August and has failed to play since. But this is an England international and the future of the Chelsea defence.
An England international, too. Chelsea have a raft of options when all are fit, at centre-back, including Wesley Fofana, Trevoh Chalobah, Benoit Badiashile, Josh Acheampong, and the returning Mamadou Sarr.
But at their peak, when all is said and done, it is hard to look past Colwill and possibly Fofana as the best centre-backs Chelsea have on their books. Whether Colwill can return soon remains to be seen.
from Chelsea FC Latest News & Club Updates | The Chelsea Chronicle https://ift.tt/B1I5eAl
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