‘Maybe one day I will be there’ – Croatia star Josko Gvardiol coy on potential Chelsea move as RB Leipzig centre-back hailed for ‘tackle of the World Cup’

Croatia star Josko Gvardiol isn’t ruling out a switch to Stamford Bridge as he insisted ‘maybe one day’ he will be at Chelsea.

The RB Leipzig defender has dazzled at the World Cup in Qatar, where he was instrumental in helping his side advance into the Round of 16.

The 20-year-old was a rock at the back for Croatia in the 0-0 draw against Belgium which saw the 2018 runners-up finish second in Group F at the expense of their opponents.

Romelu Lukaku was guilty of spurning a number of chances, with the Inter Milan striker – on loan from Chelsea – punching the dugout after Belgium’s exit.

He thought he was set to tap home a dramatic winner in the second minute of stoppage-time, only for RB Leipzig centre-back Gvardiol to somehow deny him with an incredible last-ditch tackle.

His epic outing has led Blues fans to call for his signing, and speaking to The Athletic, Gvardiol addressed rumours linking him with the west London giants.

He said: “About me and Chelsea? I don’t know. You know what happened in the last few months. To be honest, I have no idea.

“My agent is taking care of this and we will see. Right now, I’m happy in Leipzig. I don’t know, we will see – you never know.

“You know the stories and these things, but all I can say is that I’m happy in Leipzig and right now I’m going to stay there and perform for them.”

Should Gvardiol decide to join Chelsea, he would link up with compatriot Mateo Kovacic, who recently labelled the youngster as ‘phenomenal’.

Gvardiol added: “It’s a big club of course and, who knows, maybe one day I will be there.

“It’s really nice to see things like this, especially because there is Kovacic, so you never know. I talk with him.

“Even to be here on this, the biggest event, it’s a big thing for me at 20 years old so I’m happy. I have to think about it.”

talkSPORT’s Tony Cascarino waxed lyrical over the defender on commentary as he purred over his performance, claiming his challenge on Lukaku was the ‘tackle of the tournament’ .

Cascarino said: “It was definitely the tackle of the tournament so far.

“The goal is going to be at Romelu Lukaku’s mercy, and he gets his foot just to it, he knows exactly where Lukaku is. Fantastic defending.

“And he did it all night, he made a couple of surging runs in the game where he literally ran at the back four of Belgium. I just thought he was superb.”

Naming Gvardiol as his Man of the Match, he remarked: “Well there was a centre-half performance tonight that was extraordinary, considering he’s only a 20-year-old.

“Gvardiol’s performance was just absolutely tremendous, all four centre-halves played really well tonight – all of them.

“The Belgian two centre-halves of [Toby] Alderweireld and [Jan] Vertonghen, [Dejan] Lovren was superb, but sorry the young man Gvardiol, he was just brilliant.”