Colwill reaping benefits of leaving the Cobham bubble

Moving back to the family home in Southampton has motivated the defender to star for club and country.

- David Hytner

For Levi Colwill, the trip to Cobham and the Chelsea training ground from his hometown of Southampton was an integral part of his childhood. Taken into the club's academy at under-nine level, he would make the journey with his close friend Jamal Musiala, who is now at Bayern Munich; one of their parents doing the driving.

That was until Chelsea transferred Musiala into local digs.

They did not do so nearly as quickly with Colwill, who continued to travel up and down from Southampton, his parents never complaining, nor his younger brother, who would be in the car, too. Colwill often thinks back to those hours on the road, the sacrifices of his family, to give him motivation.

The commute became rather less arduous when Colwill moved to Cobham; as he set about establishing himself as a Chelsea first-team player - a mission that he pushed in eye-catching style under Mauricio Pochettino last season and has continued to do under Enzo Maresca.

Colwill has been a fixture at centre-half for Maresca, a part of the team's impressive start which has carried them to fourth in the Premier League. His form has brought him England selection; he is preparing for the Nations League ties against Greece tomorrow and Finland on Sunday. And, having seen Cobham as a destination for so long, it surely had to feel good to live in one of England's most exclusive neighbourhoods.