Earlier in his career, the Whites attempted to sign the outstanding young defender.
Leeds United have not always had the best transfer market success, bringing in big-money flops and missing out on players who have gone on to achieve greatness.
After contributing to the club’s relegation from the Premier League last season, the Whites removed sports director Victor Orta of his duties in May of this year.
His transfer deals and managerial decisions were unable to keep the club in the Premier League, and the Yorkshire-based club will be looking for greater success in the future if they are able to return to the top table under Daniel Farke.
Brenden Aaronson, Dan James, and Rodrigo were all bought for large fees at Premier League level for Leeds but failed to be consistent performers throughout their time there.
However, attention should be drawn to the players Orta attempted to sign but was unable to do so, with Josko Gvardiol being one talented gem who may have ended up at Elland Road.
How close Leeds came to signing Croatian outlet Josko Gvardiol 24Sata announced in 2020 that Leeds have accepted a €22 million (£19 million) offer from Dinamo Zagreb to recruit the centre defender in September 2020.
Despite his age, then-manager Marcelo Bielsa saw him as a dominant enforcer who could hit the ground running and shine in the Premier League, according to the article.
They had already had an offer of €21 million (£18 million) accepted by Dinamo, but the club opted to increase their offer to €22 million and include a 20% sell-on clause in order to secure his services ahead of RB Leipzig.
It was also stated that the Whites did not anticipate Gvardiol to stay at Elland Road for more than one season, believing that he would be immediately sold for a substantial profit to clubs such as Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, or Liverpool.
However, the player appears to have elected to join Leipzig instead, for a reported sum of only €16 million (£14 million), and was loaned back to Dinamo for the remainder of the 2020/21 season.
In figures, Gvardiol’s Leipzig career
The outstanding centre-back eventually joined his new squad for the start of the 2021/22 season and went on to play 87 competitive matches across two years in Germany in all competitions.
During his debut season with Leipzig, he drew attention with his Bundesliga exploits, as the versatile ace, who can also play at left-back, demonstrated his ability on and off the ball.
Gvardiol was in the top 9% of his positional peers in terms of progressive passes (5.87) and progressive carries (1.76) per 90 minutes in the Bundesliga that season.
During the 2021/22 season, the Croatian international also produced 3.4 tackles and interceptions a game and won 58% of his physical duels.
These statistics demonstrate that the ex-Dinamo star hit the ground running in Germany, frequently winning the ball back at an efficient rate for his team while also having an impact on games in possession with his progressive play out from the back.
Gvardiol, who played 30 Bundesliga games last season, also excelled with Croatia in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, demonstrating his quality at the highest level.
The 21-year-old behemoth averaged a Sofascore rating of 7.16 in seven tournament appearances and produced 2.9 tackles and interceptions per game, with a pass success percentage of 90%.
How much did Manchester City pay for Gvardiol?
During the recent summer transfer window, his remarkable form for club and country won him a mega-money move to treble-winners Manchester City.
Pep Guardiola‘s team sanctioned a £77 million bid for the Croatian central defender, who became the second-most expensive defender in football history, after only Harry Maguire’s £80 million move from Leicester City to Manchester United in 2019.
That was significantly more than the £14m Leipzig spent for his services in 2020, and even more than the £19m Leeds were willing to pay.
Even if you exclude 20% of profit as part of the proposed transaction with Dinamo, the Whites would have made a massive £46.4m profit if they had been able to sell Gvardiol for a similar sum if the sale had gone through.
Gvardiol has made 11 appearances for the Cityzens this season in all competitions and has already demonstrated his improving talent in possession at Premier League level.
The youthful colossus presently ranks in the top 12% of his positional peers in the division for progressive passes (5.62) per 90, demonstrating his ability to spark offensive sequences from a defensive stance.
This shows that he has rapidly adjusted to life in the Premier League and is already being trusted to play regular minutes under Guardiola, with seven Premier League starts to far.
Gvardiol’s Ballon d’Or placement
On Monday of this week, the 2023 Ballon d’Or ceremony took place, and the great Lionel Messi was rewarded with his eighth Ballon d’Or trophy for his accomplishments with Argentina and Paris Saint-Germain.
Gvardiol was honoured for his great efforts by placing 25th out of the 30 selected contenders for the trophy, although not winning an award.
Kim Min-jae (22nd) was the only defender to make the list, and, strangely, he finished ahead of his colleague and Manchester City player Ruben Dias, who was 30th.
This is an especially astounding feat given that the Portugal international was chosen to the PFA Team of the Year for the 2022/23 Premier League season.
Dias was also named to the Champions League Squad of the Season when City defeated Inter and kept a clean sheet in the final to claim the trophy, demonstrating that Dias was a great performance for the treble-winners both domestically and in Europe.
As a result, the fact that Gvardiol finished ahead of him in the Ballon d’Or rating shows exactly how excellent the Croatia international was for club and country last season.
Leeds, Orta, and Bielsa must be kicking themselves for not being able to persuade the then-teenage behemoth to move to Elland Road, as they missed out on a world-class defender who might have made them a fortune.
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