Mateo Kovacic has been discussing how he recommended Josko Gvardiol to Chelsea and a potential link-up at club level with his Croatian teammate.
Transfer guru Fabrizio Romano revealed last week that the Blues had approached Gvardiol’s employers RB Leipzig with a €90m (£77.1m) offer for the centre-back.
The Italian journalist detailed that although the deal would be completed this summer, the 20-year-old would stay at the German club until the end of the season however, no such move materialised and in fact, the defender penned a contract extension until 2027 at Die Roten Bullen.
It has now emerged that Kovacic played a part in piquing the west Londoner’s interest with his quotes relayed by Evening Standard:
“At the club, they asked me about Joško, I told them all the best.
“I don’t need to say anything about his football, they know what kind of player he is, and his character is excellent.
“I have seen in the national team how eager he is to play, he has a great career ahead of him, and I hope that one day we will play together in the club.”
Chelsea will ironically take on Dinamo Zagreb on Tuesday evening where both Kovacic and Gvardiol began their careers in their first Champions League group game and a candidate for Tuttosport’s 2022 Golden Boy award could be one to watch for Blues fans.
The contract extension perhaps means nothing more but adding value to any potential transfer fee that Leipzig will look to recoup for a sale and having been labelled as ‘one of the greatest European defensive talents’ by the club’s sporting director Markus Krosche it will most likely take a pretty hefty sum to capture the defender, however, one that Todd Boehly may be willing to pay having already committed to a £75m deal for the talented Wesley Fofana.
The duo would certainly provide Thomas Tuchel with a solid base and Stamford Bridge with a colossal pairing for years to come.
