Chelsea board hold fresh talks after defender agrees long-term deal amid Brighton interest

Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino had to personally intervene to assure promising defender Levi Colwill that he will have a massive role to play in his team which has encouraged him to agree to a new deal.

The 20-year-old defender had sustained interest from Liverpool and Brighton and Hove Albion where he was on loan last season. But Chelsea have always maintained he was not for sale and were looking to integrate him into the first team.

He will now sign a new six-year deal on a weekly wage of £100k that takes him up as one of the club’s highest earners at the moment and put to bed talks of wanting to leave for regular playing time.

Colwill played an integral role in Brighton’s impressive second half-of-the-season form and the Seagulls had hinted they would be willing to do business with the Blues or have them include the defender in their pursuit of midfielder Moises Caicedo.

Roberto De Zerbi then went public to say Chelsea would have a better chance of signing Caicedo if they were to include Colwill in their bid, but Chelsea have always maintained the 20-year-old English defender was going to be a cornerstone of the new Chelsea team.

With Colwill now out of the picture, Chelsea will have to try and convince Brighton to either soften their stand on the Caicedo fee or cough up the £100million the Seagulls have been demanding all summer if they are to get their prime summer target.