According to transfer guru Fabrizio Romano, Chelsea will have to beat off competition from Liverpool and Manchester City to sign RB Leipzig centre-back Josko Gvardiol who has a £97million release clause in his contract.

“Chelsea remain interested in Joško Gvardiol, he’s a player they really appreciate,” Romano told CaughtOffside.

“Other clubs are now in the race as well, with Liverpool approaching Leipzig over Gvardiol in January.

“Manchester City are absolutely in the race too, Pep Guardiola is a big fan of the player. Everything is open, but it’s never easy to get a deal done with Leipzig – I think he could be one of the big deals of the summer.”