Manchester City lead Chelsea and Liverpool in pursuit of RB Leipzig sensation | OneFootball

Premier League champions Manchester City are reportedly leading the pursuit of RB Leipzig central defender Josko Gvardiol.

The Zagreb born defender has been on the radar of Europe’s premier clubs for well over a year, largely due to his performances in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig, but also heightened by his showings at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

Chelsea have previously held an interest in signing the player, while it is also understood that Liverpool sounded out the idea during the recent January transfer window, and both clubs could now rival City for his signature in the coming months.

Speaking on the subject of Chelsea interest during a recent interview, Josko Gvardiol said, “My agent told me, ‘Chelsea is extremely interested’. You think about a serious offer from huge club like Chelsea, but Leipzig said they didn’t want to sell me.

“I really struggled with that decision but yes, we didn’t make an agreement.”

Now, according to the information of the Mail, it is reported that Manchester City, Chelsea, and Liverpool are all interested in signing RB Leipzig and Croatia central defender Josko Gvardiol during the upcoming summer transfer window.

However, it is claimed that Pep Guardiola and Etihad transfer chiefs currently lead the pursuit of the 21 year-old centre-back and are ready to make him a ‘priority signing’ this summer – despite their interest in recruiting within other areas of the first-team squad.

With that being said, and perhaps unsurprisingly given the performances of Gvardiol at both club and international level, his current employers RB Leipzig are keen to keep him despite the interest from three of the Premier League’s biggest clubs.

Speaking during a recent press conference, the head coach of the Saxony-based club Marco Rose retained a bullish approach to the future of his star defender, as he exclaimed, “Joško Gvardiol will be a RB Leipzig player next season. I am the coach and I am asking for that.”

Despite wanting to keep the player, Rose did admit that the Croatia international retains a desire to play in England’s top-flight, as he continued, “He is happy here. He said he wants to play in the Premier League, but he didn’t say when!”

For now, Manchester City will continue to sound out the future desires of their existing defenders, with the commitments of Aymeric Laporte in particular expected to be crucial in whether they decide to seriously pursue Gvardiol through a formal bid this summer.