According to the Daily Mail, Premier League sides Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are interested in signing RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol.
Josko Gvardiol had a great EURO 2020, following which he joined Leipzig in 2021 on a five-year deal and in the past year, he’s played in 46 games across all competitions.
Both Chelsea and Spurs need new central defensive reinforcements for the upcoming season but as per the report, it’s actually the Blues who have the upper hand in this deal. The Mail is claiming there’s no buy-out clause in Gvardiol’s contract so only a sizeable bid will convince RB Leipzig to sell him off.
Which side will need the 20-year-old more?
Chelsea can offer him regular playing time because they are currently seeing a clearout from their first-team squad. Rudiger has joined Real Madrid and Christensen is on his way to FC Barcelona so Josko Gvardiol can very easily come in and become a regular starter.
The Blues are also planning to bring in Jules Kounde as well and since Tuchel plays a 3-4-2-1 system, both Kounde and Gvardiol can partner Thiago Silva in the three-man central defence.
Chelsea are preparing bid Gvardiol in the summer, after completion of Todd Boehly’s £4.25bn takeover. #transfers
Chelsea are in the market for at least two centre backs with Antonio Rudiger’s move to Real Madrid confirmed on Thursday and Andreas Christensen poised to follow him pic.twitter.com/4bwP2SMhMq
— Topskills Sports UK (@topskillssports) June 3, 2022
On the other hand, Antonio Conte already has three solid central defenders and Spurs are also being linked with Inter’s Bastoni. Ben Davies, Romero and Eric Dier have done remarkably well in the previous season and if Spurs can bring in Bastoni as well then the Leipzig man will have to fight for a place in the first XI, each and every week.
Will Josko Gvardiol choose Spurs over Chelsea?
If this news of a no buy-out clause is true then Tottenham will automatically move to the back foot because Chelsea have a substantial transfer budget for the summer.
RB Leipzig are desperate to hold onto the centre-back and since there is no clause to trigger, they can afford to hold out for a massive and absurd fee. Also, his contract expires in 2026 so the Germans are in no hurry whatsoever.
In the end, Josko Gvardiol has little to no say in this deal because if RB Leipzig does not settle on a transfer fee, neither Chelsea nor Tottenham will be able to sign him.
