Tottenham Hotspur have deen dealt a huge blow in their pursuit of centre-back Josko Gvardiol.
What’s the talk?
That’s according to Ryan Taylor, with the Daily Express journalist stating his belief in a recent interview with GIVEMESPORT that, despite Antonio Conte being heavily linked with a move for the RB Leipzig defender in recent weeks, the 20-year-old is already out of Tottenham’s price range – with the Bundesliga side thought to be demanding around €100m (£87m).
Regarding Spurs’ interest in Croatia’s World Cup star, Taylor said: “I think there was an acceptance last summer that he was already out of Spurs’ price range because Chelsea had a proposal worth about €80m (£70m) rejected by Leipzig, which included him spending a year back on loan at the club, so he’s out of Spurs’ league.”
The “chosen one”
While £87m is undoubtedly a colossal amount of money to spend on the 20-year-old centre-back, considering just how impressive Gvardiol was in Qatar this winter, the argument that Conte simply must do everything in his power to land the defender in January is an extremely easy one to make.
Indeed, over his seven appearances in the competition, the £113.5m-rated talent was an absolute rock at the back for Croatia, helping his country keep two clean sheets, as well as making an average of 1.6 interceptions, 1.3 tackles, 5.3 clearances and winning 2.7 duels – at a success rate of 51% – per game.
The £18k-per-week wonderkid also impressed going forwards, hitting the back of the net once, in addition to playing an average of 3.4 long balls, 2.6 chipped passes and completing 66.1 total passes – at a success rate of 90% – per match.
These returns saw the Leipzig starlet who Taylor dubbed a “gladiator” average a simply sensational Sofascore match rating of 7.16, ranking him as Zlatko Dalić’s fifth-best performer in the tournament – playing a key role in Croatia going on to secure a remarkable third-place finish in the biggest competition in world football.
Rather unsurprisingly, these displays saw Gvardiol earn a considerable amount of praise, none more so than from Shakhtar Donetsk coach Igor Jovicevic, who said of the 20-year-old in a recent interview with Marca:
“He had a personality unbefitting his age. He reminds me of Sergio Ramos. If he misses, he picks himself up. I’m a coach who believes in young players. If you see a player with that potential you have to stick with him at any cost, even if the price is that you get sacked.
“He had total control of the game. He was physically strong and made decisions with little effort. You could see what you see now: a solid, intelligent defender, who anticipates well and who is very strong in the clash. You see him play and it looks like he doesn’t even sweat.
“Tell me, at the age of 20, what defender can you find with that solidity and that mentality, who offers immediate performance and, at the same time, has so much potential for improvement?
“And, on top of that, he’s left-footed, which there aren’t many. He can play as a centre-back in a line of three and in a line of four, as a left-back… he comes out driving and almost gets into the opponent’s box. He is a ‘chosen one’.”
As such, considering just how exciting a prospect Gvardiol has very much proven himself to be, coupled with just how much scope for further improvement the Leipzig starlet possesses, it would indeed appear wise for Conte to do all he can to land the 20-year-old this summer, as the Croatian could well prove to become the “chosen one” under the Italian’s management.
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