Levi Colwill has been linked with a move to Liverpool this summer, and he recently admitted that Steven Gerrard was his childhood football hero
Liverpool has spent the last year pursuing a player who grew up watching and idolizing a certain Steven Gerrard. Jürgen Klopp was looking for a special wonderkid in Jude Bellingham, who looked up to the Reds legend as a child.
Although it appears that Bellingham will not be joining Liverpool anytime soon, with Real Madrid leading the race for his services, Liverpool is now interested in another player who idolized Gerrard as a child.
The Evening Standard reported in April that Liverpool and Manchester City were interested in Chelsea defender Levi Colwill, and Goal has since added that, while this is true, Chelsea is hesitant to let the player leave.
It’s unclear whether Levi Colwill will end up on Merseyside in the coming months, but he’s a huge fan of ex-Reds midfielder Steven Gerrard, which could come in handy in any transfer race.
“Growing up, it was always Steven Gerrard, a leader,” he told Goal in 2021 when asked about his football heroes in a clip that resurfaced this week on social media. “I was just astounded by him; I had pictures of him in my room and I used to try to imitate him before training or playing.”
“I always thought I was him, dressing up as him, having the same boots and all that.” I simply looked up at him. I wasn’t really a central midfielder, but I always tried to think like him, so I went from there.”
Indeed, Colwill plays in defense rather than midfield, but his background as a center-back may explain why Klopp appears to be interested in him. The 20-year-old defender has a slew of valuable advantages to his game, which explains why Brighton and Hove Albion are also interested (The Guardian reports this week that an initial bid of $37 million/£30 million/€35 million was turned down).
For starters, the Gerrard disciple is a homegrown talent, which could be important for the Reds given the departures of James Milner and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain this summer, and Caoimhn Kelleher could follow them if Liverpool receives a reasonable bid from an interested party.
Colwill is also left-footed, which may be one of the main reasons for Klopp’s interest. With the exception of full-backs Andy Robertson and Kostas Tsimikas, Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Ibrahima Konaté, and Jol Matip, the Reds boss currently lacks a left-footed option at the back.
At Manchester City, Pep Guardiola has Aymeric Laporte and Nathan Aké. Mikel Arteta has Gabriel Magalhes and Jakub Kiwior at Arsenal, and Erik ten Hag has Lisandro Martnez at Manchester United after signing him last summer. It’s a common theme among England’s top clubs, with Newcastle United even acquiring Sven Botman from Lille about a year ago.
“It’s so important to have a left-footed central defender,” Guardiola said when he signed Laporte from Athletic Bilbao in 2018. “He assists us in our build-up, and when the ball comes in from the right, he controls to the left and plays it to Leroy Sané.” That’s faster than we’d play with a right-footer in that spot.”
Liverpool lacks lefties in the middle of the defense, and Colwill would fill that void, but his contract with Chelsea could be an issue. The Blues must sell players this summer in order to balance the books, but sending players to Anfield must be an unappealing prospect.
Chelsea made the same mistake in the past, allowing Daniel Sturridge to join Liverpool before selling Mohamed Salah to AS Roma, only for the Egyptian international to go on to break records for Liverpool later on. Over the last decade, the Stamford Bridge club has been stung by sending players to Merseyside, which is why Brighton may be a more realistic destination for the young starlet.
The Seagulls’ $37 million bid was immediately rejected. It’s understandable that new head coach Mauricio Pochettino would want to keep him at Stamford Bridge, but Chelsea’s need to sell players is growing. Chelsea will have to let some players go in order to balance the books, and some that it wants to keep will have to go. If Brighton fail to sign him in the coming weeks, Liverpool could swoop in and force the Blues to make another Salah blunder.
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