Chelsea and Manchester City to resume battle to sign Josko Gvardiol in January, Arsenal fail in Douglas Luiz pursuit

The battle for Gvardiol is over… for now Chelsea target Josko Gvardiol signed a contract extension at RB Leipzig on Deadline Day, which ended their summer pursuit of the centre-back. The Croatia international was the subject of intense interest from the west London club, with reports stating that Chelsea had bid €90 million for his services, despite having already signed centre-back duo Wesley Fofana and Kalidou Kouliably. RB Leipzig chief executive Oliver Mintzlaff has stated that he expected Gvardiol to stay at the Bundesliga club for at least another two season, but the Evening Standard reveal that Chelsea could return with another approach as early as the January transfer window.

The report also states that Premier League champions Manchester City are also interested in the highly-rated 20-year-old. Ad TransfersBellerin joins boyhood club Barcelona on free transfer after terminating Arsenal contract8 HOURS AGO Paper Round's view: It feels like Chelsea are on a mission to sign every top-level defender in world football. Yes — Thomas Tuchel's side lost Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen this summer.

And yes — club captain Cesar Azpilicueta and veteran Thiago Silva are getting old. However, Fofana and Koulibaly were signed for huge fees this summer, while Marc Cucurella — who can also play as a left-sided centre-back in a back-three — was signed for an whopping transfer fee too. Do the Blues really need to drop €90 million on another promising centre-back? Well, if you've got the money then there's no harm in spending it.