‘Maybe one day I’ll be there’ – Croatia star Josko Gvardiol shy of potential Chelsea transfer as RB Leipzig centre-back hailed ‘tournament tackle’ in draw with La Belgium to send their team to the round of 16 of the World Cup

Croatian star Josko Gvardiol hasn’t ruled out a move to Stamford Bridge as he insisted ‘maybe one day’ he will be at Chelsea.

The RB Leipzig defender dazzled at the World Cup in Qatar, where he was instrumental in helping his side reach the knockout stages.

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

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

He thought he was close to driving home a dramatic 92nd-minute winner, only to have RB Leipzig centre-back Gvardiol somehow deny him with an incredible tackle from last minute.

His epic outing led Blues fans to demand his signing, and speaking to The Athletic, Gvardiol addressed rumors linking him with the West London giants.

He said: “About me and Chelsea? I do not know. You know what has happened in recent months. To be honest, I have no idea.

“My agent is dealing with it and we’ll see. At the moment I’m happy at Leipzig. I don’t know, we’ll see, you never know.

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

Should Gvardiol decide to join Chelsea, he would join compatriot Mateo Kovacic, who recently called the youngster ‘phenomenal’.

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

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

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

talkSPORT’s Tony Cascarino was lyrical about the defender in his comments as he purred on his performance, saying his challenge on Lukaku was the ‘tournament plaque’.

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

“The goal is going to be at the mercy of Romelu Lukaku, and he puts his foot right on it, he knows exactly where Lukaku is. Fantastic defence.

“And he did that all night, he made a few skyrocketing runs in the game where he literally ran into the back of Belgium. I just thought he was superb.

Naming Gvardiol as his man of the match, he said: “Well, there was a performance as a centre-half tonight which was extraordinary, considering he’s only 20.

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

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