Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel says he won’t be rushed into making a decision on defender Levi Colwill.

A number of Premier League clubs, including Brighton, Leicester, Southampton and Arsenal are said to be interested in signing the 19-year-old. However, Tuchel claims that he simply hasn’t seen enough of the player in pre-season to make a definitive judgement about his future:

“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 [Trevoh] Chalobah did last season, everyone is invited to do the same.”

Colwill had an excellent spell out on loan at Huddersfield Town last season and there have been calls for him to be integrated into the first team squad this season.

However, the Blues are expected to recruit more centre-backs, even after the arrival of Kalidou Koulibaly, and there are some reports that Colwill would prefer to leave Stamford Bridge if he isn’t afforded a good amount of game time.

Tuchel’s comments suggest that the teenager will be given his chance to impress, although there is still a possibility that he could move on before the transfer window closes.