Glen Johnson claims Chelsea will be absolutely gutted they didn’t sign RB Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol last summer.
Gvardiol, who’s just 20, is a defender everyone in the world of football is talking about right now.
The young centre-back is currently enjoying a faultless World Cup tournament, proving a real talisman for a Croatia side that are now in a semi-final against Argentina.
There’s been some defensive masterclasses from the Leipzig youngster so far, which is why a host of clubs are now linked with him.
Next, Croatia will try to conquer Lionel Messi’s Argentina tonight.
Chelsea will be gutted they didn’t sign Gvardiol
The Blues were linked with a move to sign Gvardiol in the summer. Graham Potter’s side are rumoured to be keen now, too.
Aside from the few months between the interest, the main difference now is that the Leipzig man is one of the most talked about defenders.
When asked if Chelsea will regret not signing Gvardiol last summer, Johnson told GGRecon: “Yes, definitely. They could have signed him under the radar last summer and now he’s performing brilliantly at the World Cup, with the eyes of everyone on him. By Chelsea not getting the deal done, his performances will have woken up a lot of other clubs who didn’t realise just how good he was. I definitely believe that Chelsea will be kicking themselves and they’re going to have a much harder task of signing him now.”
Fabrizio Romano reported on Twitter back in August that Chelsea were in “advanced talks” to sign Gvardiol after submitting a bid.
The ball-playing centre-half stayed with German side Leipzig, who he;’s helped into the Champions League knockout rounds so far this season.
His competition pedigree has continued over to the World Cup stage, where many would argue he’s been the best defender in the tournament to date.
According to Foot Mercato this week, Chelsea have now tabled a bid for Gvardiol worth over £80million.
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