Josko Gvardiol has revealed he dreams of playing Premier League football in the future with Chelsea remaining interested in the RB Leipzig centre-back.
The Blues have been long-term admirers of the 21-year-old defender, who excelled for Croatia at last year's FIFA World Cup. A lot of other top European clubs paid attention to Gvardiol after his performances in Qatar so there could be a lot more competition for his signature when the 2023 summer transfer window opens in a few months' time.
Chelsea have been watching Gvardiol on a consistent basis ever since he was playing his football for Dinamo Zagreb. However, the Croatia international decided it was time to leave his hometown club in the summer of 2021 when Leipzig came calling and signed him for €18.8million (£16.7m).
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Just prior to signing for the German club, Gvardiol was close to signing for Leeds United. However, the Croatian believed his dream move to the Premier League was too early in his career, so he rejected the Yorkshire club.
"[Marcelo] Bielsa was the coach and I don't know if you know this but my goal in my career is to play in the Premier League," Gvardiol told The Times. "I didn't speak with Bielsa but of course he sends a few people and they came to Zagreb.
"I met these guys and they show me it was something like a plan how they see me in their style of football. I mean, when they presented it everything looked good and you could maybe see yourself there in that moment.
"I knew that I needed to take a few steps more before I get to [the Premier League] one day. At the end Leipzig is a really good club and I feel good here.
"It's important I play almost every game. I am very grateful to Dani Olmo because he was here and I spoke with him a lot of times before I decided to sign."
Chelsea remain interested in Gvardiol, football.london understands, despite having an abundance of central defenders at their disposal. The Blues completed the signing of Benoit Badiashile last month and the Frenchman has impressed since joining, but a centre-back still remains on the agenda for the club.
With Thiago Silva now 38 years old, despite his consistently brilliant performances, the club are aware he's in the latter stages of his career. Wesley Fofana was signed in the summer but the future of Trevoh Chalobah remains uncertain, with the 23-year-old not playing too much football in recent games. Kalidou Koulibaly has hardly impressed since signing from Napoli last summer and if such form continues, then there could be a decision made from either side at the end of the season.
Chelsea ended up spending over £300m last month on eight new signings but despite this, the club are still expected to be busy in the summer transfer window. A midfielder is high on the agenda, as is a central striker, but a centre-back could still be looked at and Gvardiol is seen as someone who will become world-class over the next few years.
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