Journalist Simon Phillips has told GiveMeSport that he doesn’t believe Chelsea is leading the race to sign Croatia’s Josko Gvardiol.
The 20-year-old has been arguably the most impressive defender to perform at this winter’s World Cup, as Croatia qualified for the last 16.
Against Belgium in particular, the RB Leipzig man put in a sensational display to qualify for the knockout stage over their opponents.
The result and outcome of course came at the expense of Romelu Lukaku, who Gvardiol claimed was extremely difficult to deal with. His brilliant performances will no doubt have put Europe’s elite sides on notice if they weren’t already.
The Blues made a late effort this summer to sign the Croatian despite already securing Wesley Fofana, Kalidou Koulibaly, and Marc Cucurella as defensive reinforcements.
Of course, this didn’t come off at the time, however, rumors of a return have not gone away.
However, Phillips has claimed that while there is interest from Stamford Bridge, there is nothing so far that suggests they are favorites for a deal.
He said: “They will definitely be one of the clubs pushing hard to sign him but he’s going to have other clubs interested as well.
“There’s nothing for me that says Chelsea is in the lead right now for him, but they’re definitely going to push strongly to try and sign him.“
With Todd Boehly keen to add young stars to his ranks, Gvardiol looks the perfect fit for his current regime.
With Thiago Silva surely entering the final moments of his career at Chelsea, a brilliant replacement will be necessary to not feel the drop off too much.
Combining Gvardiol’s defending with his impressive abilities on the ball makes him the perfect option for the Blues to pursue.
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