Josko Gvardiol has suggested he wants to follow RB Leipzig teammate Christopher Nkunku to Chelsea & ‘struggled’ after failing to get his move to the club last summer.
Chelsea were eager to sign the Croatia international in the summer and reportedly saw a huge offer of £77m turned down by Leipzig in the final days of the window.
Leipzig refused to sell however, with Gvardiol going onto enjoy a superb World Cup campaign where his reputation grew more after a number of excellent displays in Qatar.
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In an interview with The Times, the 21-year-old defender explained he was initially comfortable with Leipzig’s decision to keep him at the club for another campaign.
But interest from Chelsea in August left him unsettled with a transfer move to the Premier League his goal later down the line.
‘I was really confused because one month before the window starts I was upstairs with the sporting director and he says, ‘Yeah Josko, we are not going to sell you, we need you, we believe in you,’ and I was like ok I am fine with this, I can stay here, I like it here, all I need is to work on myself, to play, to win something else. It was like this until the last two days,’ he said.
‘My agent called me and said that Chelsea is extremely interested and, of course, you definitely think about a serious offer from a huge club like Chelsea. Leipzig said they didn’t want to sell me.
‘In the end I really struggled with that decision but we didn’t make an agreement. It is what it is.
‘I am here and I am fine with this because my idea had been to stay here. One season was not enough. This is my second season, even one more season would be great but we will see.”
Chelsea have already done business with Leipzig this campaign having agreed a deal to sign Nkunku this summer in a deal worth up to £52million.
‘I have never seen before a player like Christoph, he is unbelievable,’ Gvardiol said.
‘Every time I talk with someone about him I always say wherever he goes I want to go with him.’
