Marca confirmed, Chelsea are 96.69% sure to successfully sign ‘Pepe 2.0’ with ‘special clause’

 Marca confirmed, Chelsea are 96.69% sure to successfully sign ‘Pepe 2.0’ with ‘special clause’

Anh Tuan 22/12/2022

Marca reports that Chelsea currently has the upper hand in the race to sign RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol. Real Madrid is currently in third place.

During the World Cup, the star player from Croatia was one of the best performances, helping his country to a third-place finish, one spot ahead of Morocco. His performances have been impressive for Madrid, but Marca is reporting that Chelsea still has the upper hand in their pursuit of signing him.

As of right now, Leipzig has no need to sell Gvardiol because the club is in a healthy financial position and has only very recently agreed to extend his present deal. Despite this, it has been speculated that clubs in the Premier League are still interested in Gvardiol, with Chelsea reportedly holding the lead.

Gvardiol has established himself as one of the most reliable central defenders in the Bundesliga. The Croatian player, who is only 20, has already demonstrated a high degree of maturity with his performances, and it may only be a matter of time before he contemplates taking on a more difficult challenge elsewhere besides Leipzig.

Both Real Madrid and Chelsea are interested in bringing him on board, but Chelsea may be in a better position to do so because of the positive relationship they already have with Leipzig. Timo Werner was originally a member of the German club when the London giants acquired him, but they later gave him permission to play for them again.

Since then, Chelsea and Leipzig have negotiated an arrangement for Christopher Nkunku to join the Blues in the summer of 2019, and the Blues could now leverage their tight association with Leipzig to entice Gvardiol to join them at Stamford Bridge. Given that Gvardiol is currently tied down to a contract with Leipzig that runs through June of 2027, this won’t be an easy task.

The heavyweights of the Bundesliga turned down multiple proposals from Chelsea for Gvardiol during the summer of 2017, with the most recent one being worth £77 million. Because his current contract does not contain a release clause, Leipzig are in a good position to demand a significantly greater transfer fee in order to obtain permission to sell the highly-rated star.

It seems likely that Chelsea will not move through with their ambitions for Gvardiol until the summer. It’s possible that for the month of January, their primary focus will be on improving their assault. They are currently very close to signing David Datro Fofana, the striker for Molde, but he should be viewed as a long-term prospect for them.

Next month, the team will need a marquee attacker, and Rafael Leao, who currently plays for AC Milan, could be a serious target. The winger is about to reach the final 18 months of his contract, so Milan may change their minds about their refusal to sell him shortly. Chelsea’s attempts to sign him during the summer of 2017 were unsuccessful.