diff --git a/include/ddc/deepcopy.hpp b/include/ddc/deepcopy.hpp
index 890d4ac85..d4e468d22 100644
--- a/include/ddc/deepcopy.hpp
+++ b/include/ddc/deepcopy.hpp
@@ -3,31 +3,29 @@
 #pragma once
 
 #include <type_traits>
-#include <utility>
 
 #include <Kokkos_Core.hpp>
 
 #include "ddc/chunk_span.hpp"
-#include "ddc/for_each.hpp"
 
 namespace ddc {
 
-/** Copy the content of a view into another
- * @param[out] dst the view in which to copy
- * @param[in]  src the view from which to copy
- * @return to
- */
+/** Copy the content of a borrowed chunk into another
+ * @param[out] dst the borrowed chunk in which to copy
+ * @param[in]  src the borrowed chunk from which to copy
+ * @return dst as a ChunkSpan
+*/
 template <class ChunkDst, class ChunkSrc>
-inline ChunkDst const& deepcopy(ChunkDst&& dst, ChunkSrc&& src) noexcept
+auto deepcopy(ChunkDst&& dst, ChunkSrc&& src)
 {
-    static_assert(is_chunk_v<ChunkDst>);
-    static_assert(is_chunk_v<ChunkSrc>);
+    static_assert(is_borrowed_chunk_v<ChunkDst>);
+    static_assert(is_borrowed_chunk_v<ChunkSrc>);
     static_assert(
-            std::is_assignable_v<decltype(*dst.data()), decltype(*src.data())>,
+            std::is_assignable_v<chunk_reference_t<ChunkDst>, chunk_reference_t<ChunkSrc>>,
             "Not assignable");
     assert(dst.domain().extents() == src.domain().extents());
     Kokkos::deep_copy(dst.allocation_kokkos_view(), src.allocation_kokkos_view());
-    return dst;
+    return dst.span_view();
 }
 
 } // namespace ddc