Chelsea reportedly in advanced talks with RB Leipzig over deal to sign €90m defender Josko Gvardiol
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Updated 30/08/2022 at 18:12 GMT
Chelsea are reportedly in advanced talks to sign RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol for €90m. The 20-year-old Croatian would be loaned back to the Bundesliga side for the the 2022-23 season, and move to Stamford Bridge next summer. Having already signed Kalidou Koulibaly and Marc Cucurella, with Wesley Fofana also close to signing, Chelsea's summer defensive spending alone would eclipse €281m.
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Chelsea are reportedly in advanced talks to sign RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol.
According to reporter Fabrizio Romano, the Blues would pay €90m and loan the Croatian defender back to Leipzig for the rest of this season. Gvardiol would then join Chelsea next summer.
Gvardiol, a 20-year-old Croatian international centre back, has been heavily-linked with numerous clubs this summer. However, given the reported existence of a release clause in his Leipzig deal which takes effect from next summer, speculation had been that Gvardiol would not be sold in this window.
The release clause of €50m was included when Gvardiol agreed a new contract with Leipzig in June, only 12 months after joining the club from Dinamo Zagreb.
Manchester City and Tottenham were also reportedly interested in Gvardiol, but dropped out after Leipzig's stance became known. Chelsea now appear to have jumped the queue for next season.
The reported deal follows a similar format as Liverpool's signing of Naby Keita. The Guinean midfielder was sold to the Reds for €60m in 2017, but played out the full 2017-18 season for Leipzig before joining Liverpool the following year.
Keita was Leipzig's record transfer sale, but Gvardiol would smash that record.
Fabrizio Romano reported back in July that Gvardiol was high on Chelsea's transfer wish-list. At the time, he said: "Thomas Tuchel is in love with this player."
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However, Romano stressed that Leipzig would not accept his departure this summer, saying that: "Chelsea would need a miracle to sign Gvardiol." At the time, Leipzig Technical Director Chris Vivell insisted that Gvardiol would absolutely not be allowed to leave the club this summer. He said: "the player has a big market in England, but nothing came officially. No sale this summer."
The left-footed centre back, who can also play left-back, is quite highly rated. The Football Observatory named Gvardiol the world's most promising player born in 2002 in their list released on Monday, ahead of Real Madrid's Eduardo Camavinga and Barcelona attacker Ansu Fati. He was also included in The Guardian's 'Next Generation' list, released in 2019.
When he was just 17, Dinamo Zagreb academy coach Dalibor Poldrugac told The Guardian that Gvardiol was bound for the top. He said: "If he’s not a regular for Croatia senior squad by the time he’s 20, someone should go to jail for it.”
Chelsea have already made significant investments this summer, particularly in defence. Veteran centre back Kalidou Koulibaly joined from Napoli and Brighton left-back Marc Cucurella followed. The Blues are also expected to complete the transfer of Leicester defender Wesley Fofana imminently. They also failed in an attempt to re-sign former youth player Nathan Ake from Manchester City.
The complications over the arrival of new owner Todd Boehly, who took over from Roman Abramovich in June, initially slowed Chelsea's business this summer but they have subsequently accelerated.
The signing of Gvardiol would take Chelsea's summer spending to over £300m, likely the most by any club in history.
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