Chelsea and Liverpool get Gvardiol transfer update

Stuart Telford

• 23 Feb 2023 11:36 GMT
• 3 min read

Chelsea and Liverpool are competing to sign Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig, whose manager Marco Rose has now spoken out.

Gvardiol is in high demand after starring for Croatia at the winter World Cup in Qatar, his assured performances helping his nation into the semi-finals - where they were beaten by eventual winners Argentina - and belying the fact that he is still only 21.

Chelsea and Liverpool have both tagged Gvardiol as a top transfer target, a left-footed centre-back who can also play left-back, and one who has admitted he wants to play in the Premier League.

READ: Gvardiol drops major Chelsea transfer hint

"I had two options, between Leeds and Leipzig," Gvardiol told the Times of his summer 2021 transfer to the latter recently. "[Marcelo] Bielsa was the coach and I don't know if you know this but my goal in my career is to play in the Premier League."

Chelsea already have a deal in place for Gvardiol's Leipzig teammate Christopher Nkunku next summer, and Gvardiol is expected to follow him unless Liverpool beat the Blues to the punch.

Rose; 'he didn't say when!'

Rose is having none of it, though.

"Josko Gvardiol will be an RB Leipzig player next season as well," he told Norway's TV 2 Sport journalist Arilas Ould-Saada.

"I'm the coach and I'm asking for that. He's happy here. He said he wants to play in the Premier League… but he didn't say when!"

READ: EXCLUSIVE: Gvardiol leads Liverpool's four-man defensive shortlist

Gvardiol signed a new five-year contract with Leipzig in September, although Nkunku's new four-year deal penned last summer didn't hold up his Chelsea move.

The defender is valued at €70 million by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, but with his long contract and the fact more than one team is pursuing him means his eventual feel could climb up nearer to €100m.