Levi Colwill feels ready for Premier League football, with Chelsea, Huddersfield, or whoever

Levi Colwill didn’t waste any time in his first ever loan, impressing almost immediately after joining Huddersfield Town in the summer and making his first steps in senior professional football. Now, 29 appearances and almost 2500 minutes later, he feels ready for Premier League football already.

And he’s probably not wrong.

“I think I’m ready. I’ve learnt a lot this year so the next step I hope will be in the Premier League with Chelsea, Huddersfield or whoever.”

As the 19-year-old who idolizes Thiago Silva more so than John Terry tells The Athletic in an exclusive interview, he’s made great strides in his game in the Championship, improving in all aspects of play, physical, tactical, mental.

“I’ve improved my defensive side a lot. I’m winning more headers, being more aggressive. When I was playing for Chelsea’s under-23s I wasn’t as much of an aerial threat. But now I can win headers, I can challenge more. I still have a lot to improve. I have to work on my defensive side, marking and things like that. I’ll always look to improve.”

“It was surreal [to train with Thiago Silva last summer]. I wasn’t daunted though. I just tried to keep my composure and not look like a fanboy. [I like] his composure and how he reads the game. The way he is always steps ahead of everyone else and not out of position. He cancels out the danger early and that’s what the great centre-backs do. It’s not about reacting to the danger when an opponent has made a move. It’s about reading the situation early and stopping it. That’s what I try to do.”

Photo by John Early/Getty Images

Obviously there’s a lot more room to grow, which is where it becomes even more important that the next step in his career is the right step. For now though, the focus is firmly on Huddersfield’s promotion bid, probably through the playoffs.

“Even though I know there are a lot of people talking about me, I don’t listen. I just say it’s all a load of rubbish because if I start playing badly for a few games, they will be saying I’m not good enough. [...] It’s just a lot of talk and I don’t buy into it.

“I haven’t really thought about playing in Chelsea’s first team next season. I haven’t been keeping up with what’s going on with the takeover. I have just been concentrating on Huddersfield. It’s the only thing I can affect right now. I won’t be thinking about what I do next until this season is done.

“Things have been going well. Why am I going to start thinking about the future when I have to concentrate on the present? It has to stay that way.”

-Levi Colwill; source: The Athletic

Indeed, it does.

But Colwill will surely have a great shot at a Chelsea first-team role for next season, to play right alongside his idol, and be the next Academy talent to make the jump.