Chelsea have no plans to sell defender Levi Colwill amid interest from Brighton; Mateo Kovacic has one year remaining on his contract at Stamford Bridge; Manchester City have held a long-term interest in the Croatian midfielder
Thursday 1 June 2023 14:05, UK
Chelsea have rejected outright a £30m bid from Brighton to sign Levi Colwill permanently.
Chelsea have no plans to sell the young centre-back this summer. The bid was equal to Brighton's club-record signing Joao Pedro, who has already joined from Watford.
Colwill impressed on loan at Brighton last season - but it looks as though new Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino has him in his plans.
He is widely considered by coaches and scouts to be emerging as the best young left-footed English centre-back.
Meanwhile, Manchester City have held initial talks with Chelsea over the signing of midfielder Mateo Kovacic.
As yet, there has been no formal offer.
Kovacic's contract is up next summer and discussions have taken place between City and the player's representatives.
The 29-year-old midfielder started 27 of 50 matches this season, although the Croatian missed eight games due to injury or illness.
Pep Guardiola would appear to be assessing his midfield options with Ilkay Gundogan out of contract this summer amid interest from Barcelona.
Kalvin Phillips, who joined from Leeds United for £45m last summer, has only started two Premier League games.
Chelsea need to sell players this summer to trim their squad and comply with FFP rules after their failure to qualify for Europe.
AC Milan are in talks with Chelsea over the signing of midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek.
Loftus-Cheek has one year left on his contract at Stamford Bridge but has the option to extend that by a further year.
The 27-year-old appeared to say goodbye to the fans when he was substituted during Chelsea's final-day 1-1 draw with Newcastle on Sunday.
The summer transfer window opens on Wednesday June 14 for all clubs in England and Scotland.
Despite the domestic window opening on June 14, clubs will not able to sign players based overseas until the international window opens on Saturday July 1.
