As exclusively reported by Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea have submitted an opening proposal of a reported fee around €90m to RB Leipzig for 20-year-old Croatian defender Joško Gvardiol.
Negotiations between the two clubs are ongoing and any deal would see Gvardiol remain at the club until 2023. Reported at the start of the month, Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel had a phone call with the Croatia international in an attempt to persuade the player to join the Premier League club.
BILD also reported that RB Leipzig want to extend the contract of Gvardiol beyond 2026 amid interest from Chelsea and Manchester City. Speaking to the tabloid on Tuesday, RB Leipzig CEO Oliver Mintzlaff said: “Joško is a great player who will certainly arouse interest, but he still has a contract with us until 2026. We assume that he will not only play with us this season, but also next season.”
Gvardiol joined RB Leipzig from Dinamo Zagreb for just shy of €20m in July 2021. The Croatian, who can operate centrally and at left-back, has played 50 games across all competitions.
GGFN
