Bayern Munich have ruled out a move for Croatian World Cup star Josko Gvardiol amid interest from Premier League giants Liverpool, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City in the RB Leipzig defender, via BILD.
It’s quite sad, really, that Gvardiol’s World Cup campaign will be remembered most for that Lionel Messi assist in the semi-finals.
Because, until being turned into a human pretzel by arguably the greatest footballer ever to grace the earth, the former Dinamo Zagreb wonderkid had perhaps been Qatar’s stand-out centre-half.
If Gvardiol was highly-rated before the tournament, then a series of colossus performances on the biggest of stages – that remarkable last-gasp clearance to keep Romelu Lukaku off the scoresheet in the group-stages has to be seen to be believed – only served to raise his reputation to vertigo-inducing heights.
Liverpool, Man City and Tottenham like Croatia’s World Cup star Josko Gvardiol
According to 90Min, both Liverpool and Spurs have made their interest known. Gvardiol is a long-time target of the North London outfit; Tottenham having looked at the 20-year-old before bringing in Clement Lenglet on loan last summer.
Manchester United, Chelsea, Real Madrid and Manchester City are also in a race with more contenders than the Grand National. According to FootMercato, City could even break the £100 million barrier on bringing Gvardiol to the Etihad Stadium.
One club not in contention, however, are Leipzig’s eternal Bundesliga botherers. Bayern snatched Dayot Upamecano, Marcel Sabitzer and Julian Nagelsmann from the Red Bull Arena. Konrad Laimer is now on his way to the Allianz Arena. The Austrian’s Leipzig contract expires in the summer. Per Fabrizio Romano, Laimer will sign a five-year deal with Bayern.
But, according to technical director Hasan Salihamidzic, a new centre-half is not on the agenda.
“With Matthijs de Ligt, Dayot Upamecano and Lucas Hernandez, we have three top players in central defence,” Salihamidzic explains. “And (Croatian youngster) Josip Stanisic must also get minutes.”
Gvardiol, who held talks with Leeds United a couple of years ago, might have already moved out of Tottenham’s reach; reports suggesting that the Zagreb-born powerhouse could become world football’s first £100 million defender.
Liverpool, meanwhile, are likely to invest heavily in midfield rather than defence. Jude Bellingham remains a leading target. Reports suggest a deal for Benfica’s World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez is edging closer too.
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