Why Chelsea need to complete Josko Gvardiol transfer NOW

Suraj Radia

• 3 Mar 2023 09:59 GMT
• 2 min read

Chelsea will need to act quickly to secure the signing of long-term target Josko Gvardiol, with the RB Leipzig defender’s price rapidly rising and a number of teams taking interest.

Gvardiol has been on Chelsea’s radar since the age of 17 and was the subject of a bid from the Blues last summer but the 21-year-old opted to sign a new deal with Leipzig until 2027.

Chelsea were quoted a price of £70m late in the final days of the transfer window but the club considered the fee too high as they had already agreed to buy Wesley Fofana for the same amount, as well as spending £33m on Kalidou Koulibaly.

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However, Gvardiol’s stock has risen substantially since Chelsea’s initial interest due to the Croatian’s performances at the 2022 World Cup and the likes of Real Madrid, Liverpool and Manchester City are all believed to be monitoring his situation.

Crucially, the player’s new deal contains a release clause of £97m which kicks in next year and Chelsea, who are understood to have been the most aggressive suitors for Gvardiol, may look to utilise their strong relationship with Leipzig, having already agreed to sign Christopher Nkunku from them this summer.

Gvardiol recently stated that his ‘goal’ is play in the Premier League and he opted against joining Leeds in 2019 in order to ‘take a few more steps’ before moving to England, before a move to Chelsea fell through last year.

Gvardiol said: “You definitely think about a serious offer from a huge club like Chelsea. Leipzig said they didn’t want to sell me. In the end I really struggled with that decision but we didn’t make an agreement.”

Financial Fair Play a concern for Chelsea

Chelsea may also have to sell players in order to continue splashing the cash this summer after spending more than £600m in the past year, according to Premier League chief executive Richard Masters.

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“They [the new owners] would argue, probably I would suggest, that they have a different transfer policy to the previous regime,” Masters said, speaking at the Financial Times’ Business of Football summit.

“The players have longer contracts, lower wages. And obviously within our rules it’s a test over a 12-month period.

“The question is whether they’re going to sell some of their players in the next window? I don’t know the answer to that question, I’m also not going to defend them, but you have to judge these things over a period of time.”