Chelsea are reportedly ready to step up their interest in signing rumoured Manchester City and Real Madrid target Josko Gvardiol, who enjoyed a breakout 2022 FIFA World Cup with Croatia.
According to the Mirror, the west London side want to continue their raid of RB Leipzig by signing the 20-year-old defensive wonderkid, with journalist Alfredo Pedulla recently reporting that Pep Guardiola’s City are ready to spend as much as £110m to sign Gvardiol.
The centre-back was one of the best defenders at the World Cup this winter as Croatia made it to the competition’s semi-finals and ultimately ended up in third place, with Gvardiol scoring against Morocco in the play-off match this time weekend.
And as a result, interest is now rampant in Gvardiol, with Chelsea looking to beat the likes of City and Madrid to the defender’s signature, which is set to be highly lucrative in the January transfer window given just how exciting the Croat is.
Indeed, Chelsea have already captured the signing of Leipzig attacker Christopher Nkunku, and adding Gvardiol despite interest from City and Madrid would be one impressive capture from Todd Boehly’s west London side.
The American businessman is keen to sign football’s most promising youngsters, yet for Chelsea, Gvardiol could be more tempted by a move to City or to Madrid given how more concrete the two clubs are at developing young players.
Chelsea will need an impressive pitch to sign Gvardiol in January
Gvardiol’s breakout tournament has seen the defender’s value sky-rocket, and for Chelsea, they might soon be facing a losing battle to sign the defender given how strong interest already is in the centre-back as well as how precarious their position is in talks.
After all, the money might be there, but City and Madrid both offer much more direct and exciting routes tor regular football for Gvardiol, with Chelsea likely to struggle to fit the centre-back into their main starting XI given their options at the back.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
