Chelsea and Barcelona among teams ‘highly involved’ in race for Croatia’s World Cup star | OneFootball

Barcelona and Chelsea amongst clubs ‘highly involved’ in Croatia and RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol transfer race

Chelsea and Spanish giants Barcelona are amongst the clubs ‘highly involved’ in the race for the transfer of Croatia and RB Leipzig star Josko Gvardiol, according to Sky Sport reporter Florian Plettenberg on Twitter.

European champions Real Madrid and Premier League rivals Manchester United are also eyeing the defender. However, Bayern Munich have made no contact for the centre-back. The interested clubs have ‘informed’ about the 20-year-old for 2023.

Gvardiol’s current contract runs until the summer of 2027. On top of that, the Croatian’s existing deal does not have a release clause inserted in it.

Former manager of the Blues, Thomas Tuchel, was keen on the 20-year-old. He was one of the German gaffer’s top targets. Now, Todd Boehly is focused on bringing the defender to the Stamford Bridge side.

Most of our rivals in the race for Gvardiol seemingly have decent pairings in defence. Barcelona have Ronald Araujo and Joules Koude. United have been solid with Raphael Varane and Lisandro Martinez at the back. Madrid can call upon David Alaba, Eder Militao and Antonio Rudiger.

However, Chelsea evidently need to bolster their backline. Thiago Silva is 38. While the Brazilian has been one of our best players over the years, the Blues need to plan for the future.

Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol is thriving at RB Leipzig. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)

Other options at Graham Potter’s disposal include Kalidou Koulibaly, who has been a bit underwhelming this season, and Wesley Fofana, who is evidently injury-prone. Trevoh Chalobah is still a bit inexperienced and Marc Cucurella has not played well as a centre-back.

Gvardiol has been thriving in the Bundesliga this season. The 20-year-old has also caught people’s eyes with his performances at the World Cup. Croatia have made it to the quarter-finals in Qatar after beating Japan on penalties in the round of 16.

The Leipzig centre-back is a young and talented player. Hopefully, Chelsea can pip the other top clubs in the race to the defender’s signature.