Chelsea’s interest in defender Josko Gvardiol has become ‘literally overwhelming’ for RB Leipzig as they grow to accept a sale.
That’s according to Corriere dello Sport, who say the Blues ‘pressure’ is starting to tell ahead of the January transfer window.
The newspaper cover the growing interest in the Croatian centre-back today as he continues to impress at the World Cup with Croatia.
The defender has been a key player in his country’s progress to the last 16 and played a key role in that this week with a ‘sumptuous performance’ in the 0-0 draw with Belgium that secured their place.
That did not go unnoticed by the ‘bigwigs’ in the Premier League, including Chelsea, who were keen on him in the summer.
The Blues had an agreement in place with the defender at that point, but a deal was postponed and could now happen in January instead.
As far as Corriere are concerned their interest certainly hasn’t died down and they are exerting a ‘pressure’ that has become ‘literally overwhelming’ for Leipzig.
They know it will not be easy to postpone the departure of their ‘diamond’, who is also in the sights of Real Madrid and Juventus.
The latter have been ‘left to watch’ the developing situation as the Bundesliga side are likely to demand €70-80m for the defender, a figure which leaves him ‘out of reach’ for Juve.
That’s seemingly not the case for Chelsea, who have been spending freely since Todd Boehly’s takeover and are likely to continue to do so.
There is certainly a feeling in Italy that they are ready to spend for Gvardiol and putting increasing pressure on their German counterparts to get a deal done.
