RB Leipzig chief responds to claims Chelsea have made eleventh hour bid for Josko Gvardiol

RB Leipzig chief Oliver Mintzlaff has played down claims that Chelsea have made a £77million bid for Josko Gvardiol and suggested the German club would not be interested in a loan back.

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The Croatian international has been pursued throughout the summer by a host of European giants, with both Manchester clubs, Chelsea and Tottenham all making enquiries.

However, Leipzig have always been adamant the 20-year-old would not leave the club this summer and managed to commit him to a new contract – though it included a €50m (£43m) release clause that becomes active next summer.

But Chelsea tried to gazump their rivals by offering a bigger fee now, with transfer expert Fabrizio Romano claiming the west London club had entered into advanced talks with Leipzig after submitting a £77m bid on Tuesday.

Gvardiol would then be loaned back to Leipzig for the remainder of the 2022-23 season, with Chelsea willing to pay £34m extra now in order to avoid scrapping with other clubs in a year’s time.

But RB Leipzig CEO Mintzlaff has played down the sudden speculation surrounding the young centre-back, telling BILD on Tuesday evening: ‘Josko is a great player who will certainly arouse a lot of interest – but he still has a contract with us until 2026.’

Suggesting a loan back would not be considered, Mintzlaff continued: ‘We assume that he will not only play with us this season, but also next season too.’

According to BILD’s own information, there is no chance Gvardiol will be sold this late in the window – even if he is loaned back – while Chelsea themselves would still rather he joined immediately anyway.

Although Chelsea have already secured the signing of Kalidou Koulibaly from Napoli and are finalising a deal for