Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City could face paying a record-breaking transfer fee for RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol this summer, according to Fabrizio Romano in his exclusive CaughtOffside column.
The Croatia international has shown himself to be a world class talent, putting in some strong displays in the Bundesliga, the Champions League, and during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where he picked up a third-place medal.
Romano has revealed Liverpool made an approach for Gvardiol in January, only to find that Leipzig weren’t keen to do business then, but we now look set to see a fierce race for the 21-year-old’s signature this summer.
Gvardiol looks an ideal long-term successor to Virgil van Dijk at Liverpool, while he’d also make a fine addition to replace the ageing Thiago Silva at Chelsea, but these clubs will likely have to pay more than €80million for him, according to Romano.
Discussing the latest on Gvardiol’s future, Romano said: “At the moment Liverpool have explored conditions of the deal in January for Gvardiol but he was not on the market.
“I’m sure Liverpool will have kind of list for centre-backs, but the priority remains to refresh the midfield; this is crucial for Klopp.”
He added: “At the moment I’m aware of Chelsea, Man City and Liverpool but it’s still March and nothing is agreed, so we have to keep the race open. I think Gvardiol will become the most expensive centre back ever, more than €80m fee.”