Levi Colwill starred for Brighton on loan last season (Photo: Getty)
Brighton are willing to spend a club record fee on Levi Colwill after Chelsea rejected their opening bid, according to reports.
Colwill spent last season on loan at the Amex and though he only started 17 games across all competitions, he was consistently impressive and has shown great promise for the future.
The 20-year-old helped Brighton qualify for Europe for the first time ever with a stunning sixth place finish, with Roberto De Zerbi’s side playing some of the best football in the Premier League.
But with the Seagulls now set to play in the Europa League next season they need to strengthen their squad to cope with the added fixtures.
Midfielders James Milner and Mahmoud Dahoud are set to join on a free from Liverpool and Dortmund respectively, while they have already signed forward Joao Pedro from Watford for a club record fee of around £30million.
But according to the Daily Mail, are already prepared to break that record for Colwill and will offer Chelsea £40m for his services after the Blues rejected their opening bid of £30m.
Though Colwill is yet to make a senior appearance for his boyhood club, he is very well thought of at Stamford Bridge and incoming manager Mauricio Pochettino is keen to hand him a place in the first-team.
Brighton have made João Pedro their most expensive signing ever this summer (Photo: Getty)
Apart from Benoit Badiashile, he is the only left-footed centre-back at the club and as such is viewed as incredible valuable.
He has also been touted as a future England international and after selling the likes of Fikayo Tomori and Marc Guehi for well under their market value, Chelsea are determined not to make the same mistake again.
Brighton will not be short of cash this summer however, especially with the sale of Alexis Max Allister to Liverpool for a fee between £45m and £61m expected to be completed very soon.
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Further complicating Chelsea’s situation is their pursuit of Seagulls defensive midfielder Moises Caicedo who is valued at £80m, a fee that could prove too much for the Blues following their lavish spending spree last season.
It is not known whether either club would be willing to consider a swap deal of sorts for the two young stars but in either case the west Londoners will be selling players and trimming their squad this summer.
That process has already begun with N’Golo Kante tipped to move to Saudi Arabian side Al-Nassr.
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The Blues rejected the Seagulls’ opening offer of £30m.