Chelsea's Cobham academy continues to produce one top young talent after the next as the Blues' youth infrastructure has steadily become one of the most vaunted in all of Europe, but the club could be set to part ways with another gifted youngster as Levi Colwill is garnering interest from Southampton.

Per reports in both The Athletic as well as The Guardian, Colwill has drawn serious interest from Southampton this summer as Saints look to continue to push a long-term approach via the transfer market.

Southampton has already brought in German U21 international centre-back Armel Bella-Kotchap from overachieving Bundesliga outfit VfL Bochum this summer in a deal that set the club back just £8.5million for the talented young defender, and now the St. Mary's outfit look set to sell one of their more senior defenders.

With at least one of Jan Bednarek, Mohammed Salisu, Jack Stephens, or Lyanco potentially departing the club, Southampton could be the prime landing spot for the 19-year-old Colwill who certainly could be looking for first-team minutes rather than sitting in the depth chart under Thomas Tuchel.

Though Chelsea have already seen both Antonio Rüdiger and Andreas Christensen walk on free transfers this summer, the Blues remain interested in a host of centre-backs including Kalidou Koulibaly, Matthijs de Ligt, Jules Koundé, and Nathan Aké.

Should one or more deals be struck by Chelsea for any of the aforementioned targets, minutes are sure to be scarce for Colwill in the upcoming 2022-23 Premier League season, while Southampton would surely be able to guarantee far more minutes under Ralph Hasenhüttl.

It would be another blow for the Blues, however, after Chelsea already lost Tino Livramento to Saints last season while highly-rated striker Armando Broja also spent the season on loan on the south coast and could also be in line for a summer exit.

The west London outfit has also recently lost the likes of Marc Guéhi and Fikayo Tomori, and should Colwill also look for greener pastures, it may be time to view Cobham as nothing more than a money-generating operation than an avenue for the Blues to guarantee talent in the door.

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