Roberto De Zerbi admits Brighton will have difficulty finding a replacement for Levi Colwill if Chelsea choose to keep the defender this summer.
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The 20-year-old left an impressive mark during his loan spell at Brighton after joining Chelsea last August.
Brighton are keen to extend Colwill's stay at the club but are awaiting a decision from Chelsea, who have yet to finalize a deal for Mauricio Pochettino to become their next permanent manager.
Chelsea face the prospect of a squad overhaul this summer, but Colwill still face stiff competition for a place at Stamford Bridge, with the club signing Wesley Fofana, Benoit Badiashile and Kalidou Koulibaly during last season.
When asked about Colwill's long-term future at Brighton, De Zerbi said on Friday:
"I want to work with him for another two, three, four years. “It is difficult to find another centre-back, left-back, with his quality.
"He's a good guy, I think he's improving a lot. This year his progress has been amazing.
“I hope he can stay with us.
Meanwhile, Brighton travel to Arsenal on Sunday and before the game Mikel Arteta praised the Seagulls for their transfer strategy.
"They have a very clear vision, they are ahead of many other clubs in the way they manage and make decisions," said Arteta. “The way they develop players, bring in talent, the way they create the club, the people they bring in is also really impressive. I think they did a great job.
“The level of each organization is much better than before. The level of the players, the staff and the coach, things have improved. Physically, it's much more demanding, and every detail and every stage of the match is suitably dominated by each opponent. "It makes the game exciting because there's a lot of things that may or may not go your way in small margins, and that's the Premier League right now for every team."
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