Leeds United have opened talks with Dinamo Zagreb in an attempt to sign 18-year-old defender Josko Gvardiol, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Director of Football Victor Orta has hit overdrive in an attempt to bolster Marcelo Bielsa’s squad ahead of the start of the 2020/21 Premier League season, having approached Zagreb to sound out the chances of Gvardiol leaving the Stadion Maksimir this summer.
Orta has just struck deals to sign Valencia striker Rodrigo and add SC Freiburg centre-half Robin Koch to the first-team, and Romano adds that efforts to acquire Udinese’s star forward Rodrigo de Paul are on-going in what could be another club-record agreement.
There had also been further attacking options considered in Liverpool’s Harry Wilson following his season-long loan spell with AFC Bournemouth, but the defence remains a key position for Orta and Bielsa to strengthen.
The duo of Whites chief are believed to be interested in adding Zagreb prospect Gvardiol to the fold this summer, and have opened talks with the Prva HNL outfit to see if a potential deal can be struck.
Zagreb have placed a €20million (£17.9m) price tag on their rising star, who is seen to be an ‘important’ option following the arrivals of Rodrigo and Koch at Elland Road.
It remains to be seen if Orta, and owner Andrea Radrizzani, believe the price tag needed to land Gvardiol is considered to be good value for money or not.
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Gvardiol is a Croatia Under 21 international who has forged his way through the youth grades at Dinamo Zagreb since joining the Prva HNL side in 2010, capped off with a first-team debut against HNK Gorica last October.
The young talent made his Champions League debut for Zagreb earlier this month, too, during a qualifying tie with Belgian outfit CFR Cluj, against whom he helped Zoran Mamic’s side to a 2-2 draw after entering the action as a second-half substitute before scoring the eventual winning penalty kick in an 8-7 shoot-out.
He now has an accumulative 13 senior outings to his name across all domestic competitions and enjoyed his longest stint in the line-up after the Croatian league season resumed in June with six outings from a possible seven.
A deal to sign Gvardiol for €20m could be seen as a vast gamble, though, as the teenager is still very much an unproven quantity that the board see as a long-term investment rather than someone who will play a great role in our maiden term back in the Premier League.