‘We’ll see what happens in winter’: RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol leaves the door open for a January switch to Chelsea despite signing five-year deal just this month… after the Blues had a bid for the £75m-rated 20-year-old rejected in summer
- RB Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol has hinted at a potential January switch to Chelsea
- The Blues were strong suitors for his services in this summer’s transfer window
- But Gvardiol signed a new deal in September keeping him at Leipzig until 2027
RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol has left the door open on a potential January switch to Chelsea, who reportedly bid for the Croatian’s services in summer without any success.
The 20-year-old defender, who started all four of Croatia’s games at Euro 2020, has drawn interest from the west London club, who are reported to have bid £78.5million (€90m) for his services.
Gvardiol has drawn interest from a number of Europe’s top sides, with the versatile defender capable both at centre-back and left-back, and as such Leipzig sought to tie him down until 2027.
Josko Gvardiol has hinted at a potential move to Chelsea in January with his recent comments
The Croatian hinted at a possible move to the Premier League in the upcoming January transfer window, saying: ‘I’m happy at Leipzig, I still have a lot to learn and need to work on myself.
‘I have people who deal with it, I didn’t think about a transfer. We’ll see what happens in the winter.’
Graham Potter’s side bid for the Croatian international late in the summer window
The Bundesliga outfit had already lost the likes of Hwang Hee-Chan, Tyler Adams and Bryan Brobbey this summer, and were quick to ensure they retained Gvardiol until at least the next window by offering him a new deal.
He signed a one-year extension to his existing deal on September 1, keeping him at the club for another five years, and Chelsea had to settle for just Wesley Fofana and Kalidou Koulibaly for their summer’s centre-back acquisitions.
Gvardiol has previously been outspoken in being content to stay at the Bundeliga side, saying: ‘I’m very happy to have extended the contract early until 2027, because I still want to achieve a lot with RB Leipzig.
‘I feel the club’s confidence to continue my development. We’re in the Champions League again, won the DFB Cup last year and want to play for titles again this year.
‘I am very grateful to those responsible at the club that they plan long-term with me and want to continue on this successful path with me.’
The defender has only twice completed a full game this season as his minutes are managed
Chelsea had offered die Roten Bullen the incentive of keeping the Croatian on loan for the 2022-23 season, but the German side deemed it too late in the window to sort a replacement as reported by Sportsmail in September.
Gvardiol’s progress had been slightly hampered towards the end of Leipzig’s last campaign, as he struggled with a knee issue and two separate muscular problems.
He has featured eight times so far this season, but only twice has he completed the full 90 minutes in a game, as his minutes are managed early on in the season having only recovered from a knee problem in June.
The 20-year-old played four times for Croatia at last summer’s Euro 2020