Chelsea have completed Contract Talks to bring £97m star to Stamford Bridge

The Blues are thought to be extremely keen on signing the 20-year-old, but Jones thinks their struggles this season could now end up costing them in the race to land the in-demand player.

Chelsea transfer news – Josko Gvardiol

Last month, The Athletic claimed that Chelsea had planned to resume their efforts to sign Gvardiol in January after trying during the summer.

Since then, though, the Blues have fallen even further down the Premier League table after bad results against Nottingham Forest and Manchester City, while Gvardiol has recently admitted that Liverpool are actually his dream club.

“My dream club? That would definitely be Liverpool,” the Croatian recently told Danas. “Since I was little, I watched a lot of their matches with my dad.”

If Chelsea are to sign Gvardiol, he is not going to come cheap, with Sky Sport reporter Florian Plettenberg claiming that he has a €110m (around £97m) release clause in his contract.

What has Dean Jones said about Josko Gvardiol and Chelsea?

Jones now has some doubts about whether 10th-placed Chelsea can still lure Gvardiol to Stamford Bridge.

Speaking to GMS, the journalist said: “Chelsea have dominated conversations, I would say, up until recently, and it’s always felt that they will have an edge when it comes to completing this signing. But given right now that Chelsea’s status isn’t quite where it was, that could now cost them.”

According to journalist Alfredo Pedulla, City and Real Madrid are two other outfits who are keen on the Croatia international.

At this moment in time, is there really a reason for Gvardiol to pick Potter’s Chelsea over Premier League champions City or Champions League holders Real Madrid?

Even if the Blues do end up qualifying for Europe’s elite competition next season, which looks highly unlikely, the Etihad and Santiago Bernabeu still easily come across as more attractive destinations than Stamford Bridge right now.

Chelsea have not challenged for the Premier League title since they last won it back in 2017, when Antonio Conte was still in charge, and there have been no signs to suggest that that is going to change any time soon.