Chelsea midfielder Mateo Kovacic has heaped praise onto young Croatian defender Josko Gvardiol amid transfer rumours linking him as a target for the Blues.
Kovacic is currently at the World Cup with Gvardiol as they play together for the Croatian national team, and it seems he’s a big fan of his fellow countryman.
The talented 20-year-old has impressed in his time in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig, and now he’s being strongly linked with big clubs like Juventus, though Chelsea are described as being in pole position by Gazzetta dello Sport.
Graham Potter would surely relish the chance to sign a top young centre-back like Gvardiol, with the club likely to soon need to think about a long-term successor to veteran Brazilian defender Thiago Silva.
If the deal does happen, it seems Kovacic would be fully behind it, making it clear that he rates the youngster highly.
“He’s phenomenal, he’s 20 and he’s already fantastic. But I have no comments to make about links with Chelsea,” Kovacic said, as quoted by Tuttomercatoweb.
Kovacic will also be reunited with Chelsea teammate Romelu Lukaku when Croatia take on Belgium today, and he praised the loaned-out striker, saying: “We played together with Romelu at Chelsea, he’s a top player and he’s been proving it for years. He’s scored a lot of goals.”