Chelsea youngster Levi Colwill has been rewarded for his excellent development over the last year, with the defender making the 25-man shortlist for the Golden Boy award.
The Golden Boy award is given to the best under-21 player in Europe and while it is quite clear who is going to win it this year, Levi Colwill has done extraordinarily well to get himself nominated.
After all, last term, when he was at Brighton & Hove Albion, was only his first season playing in a top European division.
The centre-back is now enjoying his second campaign in the Premier League, this time at Chelsea, and the above shows why Mauricio Pochettino was right to keep hold of the 20-year-old and give him a proper chance in the first team, something he has taken.
Colwill has started in all eight of the Blues’ top flight games this season and at left-back, which is not even his natural position.
Early into his Chelsea career, and he is already showing versatility, something that his manager can continue to benefit from amid the injury crisis at Stamford Bridge right now.
What is truly impressive about Colwill, though, is his passing. The England international is the definition of a modern-day centre-half.
“I got a lot of praise from Paulo [Ferreira] for how composed I am, my passing, how I can step in and break the press,” Colwill told The Athletic last year.
Upon his return to Chelsea, Pochettino labelled Colwill as a “fantastic talent”. It has not been hard to see why as the defender continues to justify his manager’s decision to put faith in him.
Colwill may not win the Golden Boy award this year, but it is still an achievement for the Chelsea academy graduate to be in contention given that he only made his first appearance in the Premier League last season.
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