‘Plays way above his age’: Pearce says he spoke to West Ham about WC star Chelsea could sign

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Stuart Pearce has shared that he spoke to West Ham United and their analysis guy, Marc Rochon, about Croatia star and Chelsea transfer target, Josko Gvardiol, prior to his performances at the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

The former West Ham coach stated that, at Euro 2020, he watched Gvardiol, then taking his first steps in international football, in action and he was left impressed by what he saw from the then-teenager.

Fast forward to the present, the 20-year-old has just had an outstanding World Cup campaign with Croatia, who finished third behind runners-up France and winners Argentina.

That has resulted in the stock of the RB Leipzig defender going through the roof, including the likes of Chelsea and Tottenham being keen on signing the highly-rated centre-back.

Even if Gvardiol doesn’t move in January, if he continues to perform for RB Leipzig, then it wouldn’t be a surprise if someone does put money down for him in the summer.

Nonetheless, former West Ham coach and England defender Stuart Pearce spoke highly about the player, as he told talkSPORT.

“He plays way above his age,” said Pearce. “I remember remarking on him myself 18 months ago in the Euros. I think it was his first game for Croatia against England. He was up against Sterling on the day. I said ‘he’s accomplished this boy’.

“I was fortunate at West Ham to work with the analysis fella, Marc Rochon, who works with West Ham and Croatia. I spoke about Gvardiol and how impressed I was. All he did was emphasised the point about how impressed he was.

“Now, we are 18 months down the line, he has got a lot more caps now. If you didn’t know how old he was. You would probably look at him and think he is probably 28 years old and has 75 caps.”

GVARDIOL ON HIS WAY TO THE PREMIER LEAGUE?

Argentina World Cup winner Enzo Fernandez was the one who picked up the Young Player of the Tournament at the Qatar World Cup, but Gvardiol also deserved a mention.

Given that Fernandez started and then went on to win the World Cup itself, perhaps played a part in his status being elevated and helping the Benfica star win that award.

But given what the duo produced on football’s biggest stage, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they land on domestic football’s biggest stage – the Premier League – during these coming transfer windows.