Joško Gvardiol has opened up about a potential move to the Premier League and his future with RB Leipzig during an interview with The Times.
The Croatian international was heavily linked with a move to Chelsea last summer. It was reported that the Premier League club submitted a €90m bid for the central defender. However, Leipzig didn’t want to sell and no agreement was reached. Instead, the 21-year-old extended his contract until 2027 with the Saxons.
Gvardiol summarised last summer’s situation by explaining: “My agent called me and said Chelsea are very interested and of course, you consider a serious offer from a big club like Chelsea. Leipzig said they don’t want to sell me. In the end, I really struggled with this decision, but we didn’t reach an agreement. It is like it is. I’m here, and that’s a good thing, because my idea was to stay here. One season wasn’t enough. This is my second season, even another season would be great, but we’ll see.”
However, it’s clear that the defender certainly see’s his future in England’s top flight at some point. He was honest during the interview and admitted: “my goal is to play in the Premier League.”
RB Leipzig have an exit clause of €112m within Gvardiol’s contract but that does not come into effect until 2024. This will only encourage the likes of Chelsea and other major clubs to pursue the Croatian this summer.
Interestingly, Gvardiol could have already made his English dream a reality. The then Dynamo Zagreb player was wanted by Leeds United but opted for RB Leipzig and the Bundesliga instead.
Leipzig play Manchester City in the Champions League this week. You can be sure there be more than one Premier League team keeping an eye on Gvardiol’s performance.
GGFN | Jamie Allen
