Chelsea fans lay into Levi Colwill as Brighton loanee posts ill-timed smiling image with Billy Gilmour minutes after his parent club were thumped by Man Utd

• Defender contracted to Blues
• Spent 2022-23 season with Seagulls
• Unsure as to what his future will hold

WHAT HAPPENED? The highly-rated England U21 international defender has spent the 2022-23 campaign on loan at Brighton – helping them to finish above his parent club and secure European qualification. Colwill is expected to be absorbed back into the fold at Stamford Bridge this summer, with another new boss incoming, but he has angered those in west London by sharing a snap of himself with former Blues midfielder Billy Gilmour after being asked how his evening was going as Chelsea slumped to a 4-1 defeat at Old Trafford.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Colwill claimed to be in a “brilliant” mood, which did not go down well with some. One Chelsea supporter advised the 20-year-old to “delete this”, a second said “that’s a violation” and another claimed that the social media post was akin to “the same feeling as when your crush tells you you’re just like a brother to me”.

WHAT NEXT? Colwill is tied to a contract at Chelsea through to 2025, but recently told The Athletic when quizzed on his future: “Brighton have done a lot for me. They put their trust in me when others didn’t and I’m a person that loves to repay that. We’ll see. I don’t know what is going to happen. I’m still here until the end of the season. I just focus on that, then I’ve got the [Under-21] Euros in the summer. After that, we’ll see what happens and go from there. Who knows, we’ll see what happens in the summer. I love the Brighton fans, I love everything about them (the club). I’ll take that into consideration.”