Transfer blow for Liverpool as they’re told 21-year-old defender won’t be sold in the summer
Liverpool are believed to be interested in a move for RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol but the manager of the Bundesliga outfit has insisted the Croatian will not leave the club in the summer.
Chelsea were linked with a move for the 21-year-old last year and in January but no move ever materialised and with the Reds struggling for consistency this term and shipping five goals to Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday, Fabrizio Romano (via GOAL) has now claimed that the Anfield outfit have joined the race for the central defender.
Gvardiol scored last night as Leipzig held Manchester City to a 1-1 draw in Germany and although he has previously admitted he wants to play in the Premier League and that he is a huge Liverpool fan, that means nothing at the moment according to his current manager Marco Rose.
“Josko Gvardiol will be a RB Leipzig player next season as well,” Rose told tv2sport (via Metro). “I am the coach and I am asking for that.
“He is happy here. He said he wants to play in the Premier League, but he didn’t say when!”
The Croatian international impressed at the World Cup in Qatar at the end of last year as he helped his nation to the semi-finals before they were defeated 3-0 by eventual tournament winners Argentina.
Injuries have prevented Jurgen Klopp from having a settled central defensive partnership this term with Ibou Konate currently sidelined and Virgil van Dijk only recently returning to fitness following a hamstring injury.
Joe Gomez and Joel Matip have struggled for consistency this season so adding reinforcements in the area is certainly not a bad idea.
Leipzig would reportedly look to make Gvardiol the most expensive defender in football history if he was to leave the club in the near future.
A report via TEAMTALK claims that the defender has an ‘exit clause’ in his contract with the German outfit which means he’d be able to leave the club in the summer of 2024 if they were to receive an offer of £98m.
40% of Liverpool’s summer loans failed – what’s happened to the club’s loan system?
The post Transfer blow for Liverpool as they’re told 21-year-old defender won’t be sold in the summer appeared first on The Empire of The Kop.