Real Madrid and Barcelona are on high alert as Levi Colwill could leave Chelsea this summer, with Spanish newspaper Marca reporting that the Blues could be forced to sell key assets after failing to qualify for the 2026-27 Champions League.
Chelsea’s lofty ambitions saw them endure through a tough 2025-26 season, finishing eighth in the Premier League, crashing out of the Champions League in the round of 16, and suffering two humiliating 3-0 defeats to PSG.
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Chelsea could lose key players this summer, including Levi Colwill
With no football in store for European football next season, there could be several key departures in the upcoming transfer window, with Colwill reportedly one of the players who could be tempted to leave.
According to Marca, Chelsea’s absence from next season’s Champions League poses a serious threat to their ability to retain top-class talent.
In its report, Marca described Colwill as a modern-day centre-back, a player with an impressive physical presence, but with the technical quality and ball-carrying ability coveted by elite clubs across Europe.
Importantly, the report draws a comparison between Real Madrid’s long-standing interest in Liverpool’s Ibrahima Konate and Barcelona’s relationship with Inter Milan’s Alessandro Bastoni, two defenders who fit the same profile as Colwill.
Marca points out that if Colwill becomes a market opportunity this summer, it would make perfect sense for both Spanish giants to be interested.
Colwill is seen by Chelsea’s top brass as central to a long-term project and the club have no intention of selling him.
But the lure of Champions League football from the world’s two biggest clubs could prove impossible for the 23-year-old England international to resist.
Colwill’s season was ruined by injuries.
The 2025-26 campaign was one Colwill would rather forget from a personal perspective.
The defender underwent surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in August 2025, an injury sustained during the first pre-season training session after returning to Cobham, and was expected to miss the majority of the season as a result.
| season | injury | from | Until then | days out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/26 | cruciate ligament rupture | 2025/07/08 | 2026/04/24 | 261 days |
The loss of Colwill was seen as a blow to Chelsea’s defensive preparations, given that he was thought to be the linchpin of the club’s long-term defensive project.
He eventually returned in the final weeks of the season, making back-to-back starts against Liverpool and Manchester City, before doubts arose over his fitness ahead of the Tottenham derby.
