Chelsea-linked defender leaves door open for January transfer

The Blues were willing to pay £77m for the RB Leipzig centre-back.

Josko Gvardiol has admitted he might leave RB Leipzig this January after a failed summer move to Chelsea.

The Croatian defender attracted interest from a host of elite Premier League clubs before the summer transfer window.

Chelsea went ahead of Manchester City and Tottenham in the race to sign Gvardiol. However, Leipzig rejected their £77m, forcing them to look for other defensive options.

The Blues went on to add Kalidou Koulibaly and Wesley Fofana to their backline. However, they might be tempted to make a fresh bid for Gvardiol this winter.

“I am happy at Leipzig, I still have a lot to learn and need to work on myself,” the 20-year-old said.

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Asked about Chelsea’s offer, he added: “I have people who deal with it, I didn’t think about a transfer. We’ll see what happens in the winter.”

Shortly after Chelsea’s rejected bid, Leipzig extended Gvardiol’s contract until 2027.

However, the Croatia international has found a difficult start to the season, which might further motivate him to push for a January move.

Under sacked Domenico Tedesco, Gvardiol started only two of Leipzig’s first five games of the new season.

The newly-hired Marco Rose benched the defender in his first game in charge of Die Roten Bullen. However, he then started against Monchengladbach, where Leipzig suffered a 3-0 defeat.