Edinburgh Evening News

Chelsea face battle to keep key defender as Liverpool and PSG circle

The latest Premier League transfer rumours with updates from Chelsea, Liverpool, Newcastle United

- Matthew Gregory

Chelsea are apparently “braced” for a summertime battle to keep star defender Levi Colwill on the books. According to 90min, the 20-year-old England internatio­nal is attracting strong interest from both Liverpool and Paris Saint-Germain.

This report, however, states that Chelsea are “adamant that they will not entertain offers” for Colwill, who has been one of the Blues’ most impressive and reliable players so far this season and earned his first caps for the national side.

The 3AM Verdict: Liverpool are hunting for a long-term replacemen­t for both Virgil van Dijk and Joël Matip, of course, but Chelsea themselves have a void to fill when Thiago Silva leaves at the end of his contract this summer – so they certainly shouldn’t flog the former Brighton loanee if they can avoid it.

HITC report that Chelsea sent scouts to Naples to watch Napoli play Barcelona on Wednesday night in order to run the rule over Barca centre-half Jules Koundé.

The 25-year-old has been a regular starter since moving to Catalonia from Sevilla back in 2022. He’s one of the club’s biggest earners with a reported weekly wage of around £220,000 – so they could easily be tempted to let him go to help balance the books.

The 3AM Verdict: Whether Colwill leaves or not, Chelsea will certainly be in the market for a centre-half and Koundé would seem to fit the bill – he’s excellent with the ball at his feet, strong in the air, quick and reads the game very well indeed.

Last up today, an interestin­g report from Sport Witness regarding one of Germany’s hottest prospects, 18-year-old Can Uzun. The Nürnberg striker has bagged 11 goals in 19 games in the 2.Bundesliga season and has attracted interest from Newcastle United, Fulham and Brighton & Hove Albion.

The 3AM Verdict: This is Uzun’s first season in senior football so his CV is very short, but he looks the part. He’s a fine finisher, has a great work ethic and his close ball control is excellent. At such a young age he’s likely to have a small price tag, so he’s probably worth a punt.

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