Mauricio Pochettino makes huge Levi Colwill prediction and declares no transfer for Chelsea ace

Levi Colwill played his first match under the management of Mauricio Pochettino when Chelsea defeated Brighton at Lincoln Field Stadium in Philadelphia

Mauricio Pochettino has declared that Levi Colwill can become one of the 'greatest centre-backs in England' following the young defender's first outing under Chelsea's head coach. The 51-year-old Blues boss declared that the Cobham product will continue with the club despite the transfer speculation surrounding him.

Having not featured in Chelsea's first friendly, Colwill played 81 minutes against Brighton, the team he spent last season on loan with and chief suitors for his signature. The 20-year-old has been declared not for sale by Chelsea however, and Pochettino impressed that

Colwill put in a solid display and showed his diversity of passing against his former loan team. He carried an air of authority in his play but did look to tire as the game went on and gave away a penalty for a foul on Joao Pedro. Nevertheless, Pochettino was pleased with what he saw.

He said: "He is our player and he is going to continue with us. I am happy with him, his performance was good today, better than what I expected because it is only the first game with us after the season with Brighton. I am so happy, he can be one of the greatest centre-backs in England."

"It is so clear, he is our player and we are happy with him and of course he is going to be part of our team," Pochettino added.

Pochettino is content with the progress of his squad overall so far in pre-season. The former Spurs coach knows there is plenty of work to be done but has seen positive shoots developing from his short time at the club.

He said: "We need to work a lot to evolve in our different areas of the team but I am