Bayern Munich open talks to sign Chelsea centre-back | OneFootball

Bayern Munich have held initial talks with Chelsea over the potential signing of centre-back Levi Colwill.

The Bundesliga side want to add a new central defender to their ranks in the summer transfer window and are understood to hold a long-standing interest in Colwill.

According to Sky Germany, the 21-year-old is a leading alternative for Bayern should the Bavarians be unable to reach an agreement for Bayer Leverkusen defender Jonathan Tah. The latter has entered the final 12 months of his deal with the newly-crowned German champions and Bayern are hoping to sign Tah in a cut-price deal from their divisional rivals.

However, Colwill is a name on the club’s radar should that pursuit fail and initial contact has been made between the Bayern board and Chelsea. A natural left-footer, Colwill fits the profile of defender that Bayern are keen to sign.

Colwill made 23 league appearances for Chelsea last season after returning from a successful loan spell at Brighton. He featured predominantly out of position at left-back for much of the campaign and missed out on a place in the England squad for Euro 2024, after missing much of the run-in with a toe problem.

Chelsea turned down two bids from Brighton to sign Colwill on a permanent basis last summer, while Liverpool also monitored the situation of the defender, who won the u-21 European Championship with England in 2023.

The West Londoners deemed Colwill as indispensable to their long-term project 12 months ago, though it remains to be seen how the defender fits into the plans of new head coach Enzo Maresca.

Chelsea are also expected to make sales before the June 30 deadline and have been linked with selling several academy products, given any funds recouped would count as 100% profit on the balance sheet.

Conor Gallagher, who has been linked with Aston Villa, Tottenham and Atletico Madrid, Trevoh Chalobah, Armando Broja and Ian Maatsen have all been mentioned as potential outgoings at Stamford Bridge, and a big money bid for Colwill could prove tempting as Chelsea look to remain compliant with the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability rules.

Bayern, meanwhile, are pushing ahead with transfer plans under new head coach Vincent Kompany and are in talks with Fulham over a deal to sign midfielder Joao Palhinha. The Belgian has approved a deal for the Portugal international, which could cost in the region of £38m, as the Germans look to bring in a specialist defensive midfielder.

Read – Four strikers Chelsea should be scouting at Euro 2024

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