Everton: Contrasting reports emerge over Lampard’s interest in £4.5 million Chelsea starlet

Everton have already secured the free transfer of James Tarkowski, adding much needed steel in the central defence but Frank Lampard is still looking to bring more reinforcements to central defence. Levi Colwill has been touted as a target but there are a host of clubs interested in taking Colwill.

The Chelsea defender spent the last season on loan at Huddersfield, playing 29 games in the Championship and also featuring in the Championship play-off final. Huddersfield lost the final to Nottingham Forest as Colwill scored an own goal which decided the fate of the final.

Now, back at Chelsea, Colwill will be assessed during the pre-season before a decision is made by Thomas Tuchel over his inclusion in the squad for next season. Chelsea have already lost Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen as the centre back duo departed as free agents. While Colwill may not be a direct replacement, Tuchel could make Colwill part of his plans and fine tune him.

In case the Blues decide to loan him out for another season, there will be no shortage of clubs interested in the defender. Apart from the Toffees, the likes of Leicester City, Southampton, Huddersfield, and Fulham had shown interest in the 19 year old.

Contrasting reports emerge over Everton’s interest in Levi Colwill

However, contrasting reports have emerged over Everton’s interest in Colwill. Earlier this week, The Mirror reported that Everton were surely interested in the defender at one stage but they are no longer in contention to sign him and have shifted their attention to other targets.

Given the immense competition it was understood that Everton did not want to get into a race and by pulling themselves out, they saved themselves some time. Now, Daily Mail has gone onto suggest that Everton are monitoring Colwill’s situation at Chelsea. Leicester and Southampton have also been mentioned as suitors for the Chelsea academy product.

It is not very clear whether Everton have indeed pulled out of the race or are still keen to sign Colwill. A lot will depend on Colwill’s pre-season and Tuchel’s decision but until then, interested teams will continue to hope.

The Cobham graduate is valued at £4.5 million which is a reasonable price. If Everton are going to pursue a deal, Frank Lampard could make use of his fruitful Chelsea connections to lure Colwill to Goodison Park where he can groom Colwill. Young defenders have grown immensely and gone on to become top players, as Reece James and Fikayo Tomori can attest.

It depends if Everton does actually see Colwill as a long term option given they have Jarrad Branthwaite who is in a similar phase of his career and the Toffees are thinking to send him out on loan. It wouldn’t be the smartest decision to send Branthwaite on loan and bring in another youngster to fill in the spot of a fifth choice centre back.

Will Levi Colwill join Everton?