Where does Levi Colwill fit into Chelsea's current £900m squad?

Ever since the American replaced Roman Abramovich as owner of the two-time European champions, the club has signed 22 players in two transfer windows, spending £545.3m in the process.

Within this spending includes the £106m British record transfer fee payed for Benfica’s Enzo Fernandes, the £66m Mykhailo Mudryk deal stolen from Arsenal at the last minute and the fourth-most expensive defender in history, Wesley Fofana.

Head coach Graham Potter currently has a squad of 31 players and seven more potential first-teamers out on loan this season.

When the former Brighton manager calls everyone into Cobham for the first day of pre-season training this summer, he will have at least three options in every position.

This will leave many Brighton fans wondering if their is a space for Levi Colwill in Potter’s new look Chelsea side.

The young defender is currently on a season-long loan at Albion from Chelsea and has impressed manager Roberto De Zerbi since he arrived on the south coast.

Colwill made his first start for De Zerbi’s Seagulls in their 3-1 upset victory over Arsenal in the EFL Cup third round on November 9 and went on to start the next eight games for the club.

A quadricep injury picked up in training ended the 19-year-old’s run of games in the side, but already talk has begun of keeping the central-defender at the club beyond the end of this campaign.

Colwill has been recognised by De Zerbi as being integral to the Italian’s style of play. The Albion boss has utilised the defender’s ability on the ball to draw the opposition out of shape and begin attacking phases of play with quality passes into Brighton’s midfield duo of Alexis Mac Allister and Moises Caicedo.

Following Colwill’s injury, De Zerbi said: “I am sorry for him because for us the left centre-back is very important. Lewis Dunk is a top player but he is on the right and we lose some line passes from the left.

“I am very happy with Levi’s progress. I hope he can stay with us in the future because he has the potential to become a great player and he is very important for us.”

The young defender joined Chelsea's academy system at eight-years-old and has represented England at youth level from U16s to U21s.

Colwill is yet to make a first-team appearance for the Blues, having spent last season on loan at Huddersfield Town in the Championship, playing 32 games and scoring two goals for Carlos Corberán’s side as they made it to the play-off final.

Unfortunately for Colwill and Corberan, the central defender scored the only goal of the game in the wrong net, as Nottingham Forest would go on to get promoted at the Terriers expense.

On recent form, Colwill deserves a chance in the current Chelsea set-up, keeping the likes of Mo Salah and Cody Gakpo quiet in recent games is no mean feet. Whilst also being instrumental in helping De Zerbi’s side score 25 goals in the 9 games he has started.

This attacking and defensive contribution would be much appreciated in Potter’s current side, which is currently struggling to find the back of the net, having scored six in their last 12 games.

However, Chelsea currently already have four players in the left centre-back position, including £33m summer signing Kalidou Koulibaly and January addition Benoît Badiashile from Monaco for the same price.

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Academy products Trevoh Chalobah and Ethan Ampadu can also slot in to this role, the latter of whom is currently out on loan Spezia in Serie A.

Chelsea in very much in a transition phase under Potter, as the former Brighton head coach attempts to bed-in a whole new squad of players into the club.

It is difficult to see where Colwill would fit in to this over-inflated group right now, meaning a further season out on loan might suit all parties involved best.