As Liverpool and Manchester City consider a raid, Chelsea could lose the "next Terry."
Levi Colwill might be lost to Chelsea in a fire sale as Liverpool and Manchester City plan a summer recruitment drive.
Exclusive: As the Blues consider selling homegrown talents to comply with Financial Fair Play regulations, rivals may pounce.
Manchester City and Liverpool are prepared to attack Chelsea for defender Levi Colwill as teams line up to steal homegrown stars from Stamford Bridge in response to financial pressures.
Rivals in the Premier League are planning approaches for Chelsea academy players amid fears that the Blues would have to sell off their young players in order to comply with Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations.
This summer, both Pep Guardiola and Jurgen Klopp want to revamp their back lines, and left-footed Colwill has been named as a key target. The 20-year-old is thought to be a potential star for England, and City and Liverpool are prepared to battle it out for his signature.
Colwill has performed admirably while on loan at Brighton this year and is expected to receive an international call-up before Euro 2024 takes place next year. Chelsea, who just signed Ben Chilwell to a new contract, do not want to lose Colwill and are prepared to begin contract negotiations with the Cobham graduate to stave off interest from City.
Rival clubs sense an opportunity as a result of the perception that Chelsea may need to cash in on indigenous talent to stay inside FFP guidelines after spending more than £600 million over the course of the previous two transfer windows.
Chelsea maintains that they are still in compliance with FFP rules, although UEFA is keenly watching them for any potential violations. Chelsea would lose out on £90 million or more in TV revenue if they failed to qualify for the Champions League the next season, thus player sales would be necessary to increase revenue.
Under the new UEFA financial sustainability regulations, selling some homegrown players would be pure profit. Colwill, Mason Mount, Callum Hudson-Odoi, Conor Gallagher, and Ruben Loftus-Cheek could all be sold for close to £200 million.
Colwill's Chelsea contract expires in just two years, and co-owner Todd Boehly has made it clear that he does not want players to extend their contracts past their expiration dates. Colwill's future may depend on whether he agrees to a contract extension because Boehly is willing to sell players to make sure that doesn't happen.
If Colwill becomes available this summer, Brighton is also planning to compete for his permanent services and hopes to be able to give him European football.
Colwill is in a comparable predicament to Mount, who, if he does not agree to a new contract, might be sold to Liverpool. The English midfielder has drawn interest from Manchester United as well.
Along with Newcastle, Liverpool needs to increase their percentage of homegrown players and is interested in Gallagher. Mateo Kovacic, meanwhile, has been mentioned by City as a possible replacement for Bernardo Silva or Ilkay Gundogan.
This summer, Guardiola is willing to authorise Aymeric Laporte's departure, and City is prepared to take action to pry Colwill away from Chelsea. Colwill was a makeweight in the £62 million trade that brought Marc Cucurella to Stamford Bridge last summer and joined Brighton on loan.
The contentious 2-1 loss to Tottenham last Saturday was the 15th outing for Brighton this season for the England Under-21 international.
Chelsea supporters dubbed him "the next John Terry" after his excellent loan season in the Championship with Huddersfield while wearing the No. 26 jersey. Colwill is unable to play against his parent club on Saturday when Chelsea hosts Brighton at Stamford Bridge.
