As Europe’s elite clubs line up to attempt a summer swoop, RB Leipzig centre-back Josko Gvardiol has admitted he has recently spoken with Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola.
Despite these discussions, the Croatian international, who turned 21 in January, has stated that he does not intend to leave the German club at the end of the season.
Chelsea are one of a number of clubs keeping an eye on the defender’s situation, according to football.london, despite having signed three centre-halves since Todd Boehly took over the club last May. The west Londoners are said to have long admired the youngster and have followed his progress since he was playing for Dinamo Zagreb.
After impressing for Croatia at the World Cup, interest in Gvardiol’s signature has only grown, so Leipzig may struggle to keep him. The plethora of clubs eager to sign the youngster will force his current club to ask for an exorbitant fee, such is the level of excitement surrounding his future.
Nonetheless, the Croatian insists that Leipzig has no plans to release him. “The club has no plans to sell me this summer,” Gvardiol told Net HR.
“So there is no point in discussing anything else. The most important thing is to finish this season in Leipzig as strongly as possible.”
The 21-year-old started both legs of Leipzig’s recent Champions League last-16 match against Manchester City and scored his team’s only goal in Germany. While City thrashed their opponents 7-0 at the Etihad Stadium in the second leg, Gvardiol has admitted he spoke with Pep Guardiola after the game..
He has, however, refused to go into specifics about what the two parties discussed. The Croatian went on to say: “In the Champions League, I extended my hand to Guardiola. I congratulated him on his success. Guardiola, a fantastic coach, said a few words to me. But I’m keeping them to myself.”
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