Mauricio Pochettino insists Levi Colville will stay at Chelsea

Chelsea's Levi Colville passes the ball from behind. The 0-year-old could become one of England's «greatest centre-backs».

Colville's future has been a source of constant debate in recent months, with Brighton looking to sign him permanently following his south coast loan spell last year.

Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi effectively proposed a trade deal between Colville and Chelsea's top target Moises Caicedo earlier this week.

However, Chelsea have insisted all summer that Colville is simply not for sale, and Pochettino has made it clear that he expects the defender to stay at Stamford Bridge.

Colville started for Chelsea in a pre-season friendly against Brighton in Philadelphia on Saturday night, but Pochettino said his choice was not intended as a statement to the youngster's former club.

«We are the game I eat with him because we have to share minutes with different players and I think he's in good shape,» Pochettino said. «We don't need to show anything or make a statement.

“He is our player and he is going to continue with us. I am happy with him, his game today was good, better than I expected, because this is only the first game with us after the season with Brighton. I'm so happy he can become one of England's greatest centre-backs.»

Chelsea head coach Mauricio Pochettino moments before kick-off against Brighton in Philadelphia. Credit: Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images

Colville's removal from the Caicedo equation would force Chelsea to raise their offer for the midfielder significantly if they are to convince Brighton to sell him this summer.

Chelsea have turned down two bids for the Ecuadorian so far, the second of which was worth £70m. Negotiations between the two clubs are known to be ongoing and Chelsea are expected to make a better offer for the player Brighton value at least £100m.