Josko Gvardiol: Liverpool is the club of my dreams
Gvardiol was one of the standout performers at the World Cup in Qatar. He admitted that he was close to joining Chelsea last summer.
Josko Gvardiol was one of the young defenders on the radars of top European clubs in recent months but his performances at the Qatar 2022 World Cup, at just 20 years of age, has only accelerated the level of interest.
Gvardiol is under contract with RB Leipzig until June 2027, however, he has no qualms about talking about his future. In an interview with Croatian television station RTL Danas, he admitted that he was close to joining Chelsea last summer.
”Chelsea didn’t give up, but we agreed that I would go in the winter window”. The Londoners eventually ended up signing Marc Cucurella and Wesley Fofana in the summer, and have recently announced the signing of Benoit Badiashile.
Gvardiol is aware of his appeal to some of the world’s top teams, but will not be rushed during this January transfer window. “I’m not in a hurry. I’m at Leipzig and we still have six months to finish the season and win something”.
But just as he is reassuring German fans about a possible move in January, he is opening the door for the next transfer window. “Then we’ll look further into the future. The winter is here, so we have to wait and see how to proceed. But it’s OK, there’s still a long time to go, so we’ll see... Nobody has presented me with anything. I’m not in a hurry, we have time, let them organise the plan and we’ll see”.
The fact that the young defender has not received any new offers so far does not mean that clubs across Europe won’t end up calling RB Leipzig’s offices sooner rather than later. Of all the teams that are likely to make a bid for Gvardiol in the coming months, there is one that he is particularly excited about.
“It would definitely be Liverpool,” the player replied when asked about the team he dreamed of playing for when he was growing up. The Croatian international says that “I watched a lot of Liverpool games with my father and we covered every season in detail. It’s a club that has stayed in my heart”. It remains to be seen if Gvardiol ends up at Anfield.