RB Leipzig: Gvardiol on career goal Premier League and Chelsea interest

Chose Leipzig over Leeds in 2021

RB Leipzig’s central defender Josko Gvardiol has in the run-up to the Champions League duel with Manchester City (Wednesday from 9 p.m. in the TM live ticker) in an interview with the English “Times‘ reiterates that the Premier League is his career goal. The 21-year-old, who was one of the biggest gainers in market value last year and became the most valuable defender in the world together with City’s Rúben Dias, is reportedly still being courted by Chelsea FC, among others.

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“I was confused,” said the Croatia international when asked about the Blues’ interest that leaked out last summer. “I was really confused because I spoke to the sporting director a month before the transfer window opened and he said, ‘Josko, we’re not going to sell you, we need you, we believe in you.’ And I was fine with that – I said to myself, ‘I’m fine, I can stay here, I like it here, I just have to keep working on myself, playing, winning something.’ (…) My agent then called me and said that Chelsea was extremely interested. Of course, you definitely think about a serious offer from a club as big as Chelsea. (…) In the end I really struggled with this decision, but we didn’t come to an agreement. It is like it is. I’m here now and I’m okay with that because my original idea was to stay here. One season wasn’t enough. This is my second season, even another season would be great, but we’ll see.”

RB demonstratively extended the contract of the later World Cup third party until 2027 on Deadline Day. However, an engagement on the island is still the goal of his career, Gvardiol reported to the newspaper. He had already faced a similar decision in the summer of 2021. “I had two options: Leeds or Leipzig. (…) I didn’t speak to coach Marcelo Bielsa, but of course he sent a few people and they came to Zagreb. I met these guys and they gave me a map of how and where they see me in their style of football. When they presented, everything looked good and I could see myself there a bit at that moment.” Ultimately, however, Gvardiol decided “that I still had to take a few steps before I could one day get into the Premier League.”

Against this background, “Leipzig is a really good club” where he feels comfortable. “It’s important that I play almost every game,” said Gvardiol, who has only missed two games this season and has clocked up 1,304 Bundesliga minutes in 2022/23 to date. His current teammate Dani Olmo, with whom he previously played in Zagreb, also played an important role in his decision-making in 2021: “I am very grateful to Dani Olmo because he was here and I spoke to him many times before making my decision have to sign.”

However, he also struggled with initial difficulties in the Bundesliga: “After two weeks I called Dani and said: ‘I want to go back to Croatia.’ I knew that the difference between the Croatian league and the Bundesliga is huge. But: Oh, my God! Deep runs, long balls, counter-pressing. It was too much for me. But then, after three weeks, it became normal,” Gvardiol said.

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