Brighton & Hove Albion have reportedly identified Ajax defender Calvin Bassey as a potential alternative to Chelsea’s Levi Colwill.
Head coach Roberto De Zerbi has expressed his desire to keep hold of Colwill, who enjoyed a successful season-long loan spell with the Seagulls in 2022-23, featuring 20 times in all competitions including 13 Premier League starts.
However, newly-appointed Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino is keen to work with Colwill next season and integrate the 20-year-old into his first-team plans, while the Blues are also understood to have offered the defender a new contract.
Brighton have not given up hope in signing Colwill on a permanent basis and are allegedly prepared to break their transfer record to lure the England Under-21 international back to the American Express Community Stadium.
Bassey primarily operated as a central defender for Ajax last season but he also featured at left-back, where he played numerous times at Rangers.
The Leicester City academy graduate’s versatility is said to appeal to Brighton boss De Zerbi, who is interested in recruiting a left-sided defender to provide competition for the club’s only senior left-back option Pervis Estupinan.
Brighton are yet to sign a defender this summer and have instead bolstered their options in other positions, with goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen the club’s most recent signing after being officially unveiled on Monday – joining from Anderlecht for a reported £17.2m.
The Seagulls broke their transfer record earlier this summer to sign forward Joao Pedro from Watford for around £30m, while midfield duo James Milner and Mahmoud Dahoud have joined the club on free transfers.
Bassey is not the only Ajax player to have caught De Zerbi’s eye, as Brighton have reportedly joined Manchester United, Arsenal and Chelsea in the race to sign Ghanaian forward Mohammed Kudus