Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel has spoken on the inclusion of Levi Colwill and his fellow Blues youngsters during pre-season this summer.
The Blues are currently on tour in the USA as they make their preparations for the new season, with a variety of experienced and youthful players making the squad list.
Tuchel’s side have already played their first game of the summer as they beat Club America 2-1 on Sunday thanks to goals from Timo Werner and Cobham graduate Mason Mount.
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The likes of Conor Gallagher, Colwill and Ethan Ampadu have all been involved in training with the first team since their arrival in the States, with all three impressing in their respective loan spells last season.
However questions have been raised over Colwill’s future at the club, with Chelsea signing fellow centre-back Kalidou Koulibaly and closing in on a deal for Jules Kounde this summer.
Unlike some of his fellow youngsters though, he has remained with the senior side for the rest of the tour and not joined up with the under-23s.
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Tuchel was asked about the 19-year-old’s potential involvement at the club next season, and said: "With Levi, it is too early to give an answer. What I will say now, I maybe have to take back or give another opinion in a few weeks, I simply haven’t seen enough of him in our group.
“He got a bit of an injury and was out of training for several days. Once you are out it takes a while to catch up against especially those who aren’t used to that level.
"The fact he is still here is very easy, we don’t know him enough so he needs to stay here. We need more impressions of him to get a better outlook on the situation. But like what Chalobah did last season, everyone is invited to do the same."
Billy Gilmour, Tino Anjorin and Harvey Vale were all sent to join the under-23s and Armando Broja was sent back to the UK due to an injury, amid the current transfer interest in him this summer.
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Tuchel also commented on their respective places in the squad: "We know the players very well. We know Tino pretty well, Billy Gilmour pretty well, and Harvey Vale because he trained with us last season.
“Armando was injured and I don't expect Armando to leave. We are aware of offers and interest, it just tells us that he has a lot of potential.
"We will make a decision together, the owners and me, and also in the end with the player. Right now, from when he arrived, it was clear that he tried to impress and become a Chelsea player as soon as possible.
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“After his loan in Southampton, the situation was very clear that he wanted to make the next step and show his improvement and make an impression in pre-season.
"Unfortunately, he injured himself. There's a lot of noise because there are a lot of offers and interest in him. So let's see how this goes. But I am pretty calm about it. We know the situation. He has a contract and from there we go.
"The decisions (on Gilmour, Anjorin and Vale) we took, I didn't like them to be honest because all the players deserved to stay here. All of the players deserved to stay here and play here.”
Chelsea will face Charlotte FC in their next pre-season friendly on Thursday (UK).
Topics: Chelsea, Levi Colwill, Thomas Tuchel
Robert Calcutt