‘He is someone I really like’ – Man Utd legend Nemanja Vidic singles out Chelsea target Josko Gvardiol as his favourite young defender

Gvardiol has been linked with a big money move to the Premier League (Picture: Getty)

Manchester United legend Nemanja Vidic has named Josko Gvardiol as his favourite current defender to watch in the game.

Gvardiol is regarded one of the best young defenders in the game, enhancing his already formidable reputation with a string of excellent displays for Croatia at the World Cup in Qatar.

Chelsea were eager to sign the Croatia international during the summer and reportedly saw a huge bid of £77million rejected by Leipzig in the final days of the window.

That price tag has soared further with Manchester City also admirers of the 21-year-old, who has admitted he would like to join a Premier League side after missing out on such a move last year.

Vidic, who won five Premier League titles with United, is also among Gvardiol’s admirers, likening him to current United star Lisandro Martinez for ‘liking to defend’.

Asked by former United teammate Rio Ferdinand who is his favourite defender to watch, he told Five: ‘I always loved young defenders.

‘At the  World Cup, the Croatian defender [Gvardiol] was great, good on the ball, aggressive, you can see he likes to take the ball from the defenders. I like that.

Chelsea made a huge move for the player last summer (Picture: Getty)

‘You want to see a defender who likes to take the ball, he likes to defend. It is like I said before about Martinez, he likes to take the ball from the defenders, that it his job, you can see, he can tackle, he can fight but also when he has the ball, he wants to play.

‘So Gvardiol is someone I really like.’

Gvardiol recently revealed how a move to Chelsea failed to materialise in an interview with The Times.

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‘My agent called me and said that Chelsea is extremely interested and, of course, you definitely think about a serious offer from a huge club like Chelsea. Leipzig said they didn’t want to sell me.

‘In the end I really struggled with that decision but we didn’t make an agreement. It is what it is.

‘I am here and I am fine with this because my idea had been to stay here. One season was not enough. This is my second season, even one more season would be great but we will see.’

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‘You want to see a defender who likes to take the ball.’