Chelsea make Levi Colwill decision for next season after Brighton loan

The 20-year-old has impressed this season on loan at Brighton, making 10 appearances in the Premier League

Levi Colwill will be back at Chelsea next season after his loan at Brighton (Nick Potts/PA) (PA Wire)

Levi Colwill will return to Chelsea next season to be part of the first-team set-up with no sale or further loans planned for the defender, the PA news agency understands.

The 20-year-old has impressed this season on loan at Brighton, making 10 appearances in the Premier League, after helping Huddersfield reach the Championship play-off final last campaign.

He has featured five times for England Under-21s, most recently during Lee Carsley’s side’s 4-0 win over France in March.

Reports had linked the defender with a move to Liverpool this summer as Jurgen Klopp plans a rebuild of his team, but PA understands Chelsea have a three-year option on his contract and he will be back at Stamford Bridge next term.

A decision on the club’s next manager is not believed to be imminent, with the process to find a permanent successor to Graham Potter on going.

PA understands there is not currently a clear favourite amongst the hierarchy, as co-sporting directors Paul Winstanley and Laurence Stewart conduct a more thorough search than the one that led to Potter’s appointment last September, just 24 hours after the sacking of Thomas Tuchel.

Former Spain and Barcelona coach Luis Enrique was in London last week for talks, whilst Julian Nagelsmann, who left Bayern Munich in March, has also been contacted.

Interim manager Frank Lampard is still expected to be in charge of the team until the end of the season.