Manchester City advancing closer to RB Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol
Manchester City are inching closer to the signing of Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig for a reported fee of £86 million, as per reports from Paul Joyce of The Times.
It’s a record-breaking deal that would see Gvardiol become the most expensive defender in football history, eclipsing the £80m Manchester United paid Leicester City for Harry Maguire.
Signed from Dinamo Zagreb three years ago, the Croatian international has lived up to his billing as one of Europe’s elite young center-backs. Leipzig beat a number of clubs to his signature and are set to reap the rewards with treble-winners Man City calling.
His stellar show against Pep Guardiola’s side in the Round of 16 first leg (1-1) served as proof of his all-round abilities, but more notably the quality of the opposition he was up against on such a large stage.
Gvardiol’s astronomical rise also helped the club sell star defenders Ibrahima Konate and Dayot Upamecano. Die Rotten Bullen have already raised sales worth £112m for two players this window – Dominik Szoboszlai (Liverpool) and Christopher Nkunku (Chelsea).
Gvardiol, 21, had set his sights on linking up with Guardiola and his super team soon after they won the Champions League. The same was confirmed by RB managing director of sport Max Eberl, who told Leipziger-Volkszeitung “Gvardiol and his agents gave us their desire to move to Manchester City. We are in talks with City. Yes, for €100 million plus bonuses, Gvardiol will end up in Pep’s strong hands. The value of the deal would make Gvardiol the most expensive defender in history, but it might take a few more days.”
It’s been quite a turnaround, albeit expected for a player of his caliber, for a club to accelerate their pursuits just 12 months after Leipzig and Gvardiol signed an extension. Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur were in a two-horse race last summer, with the former ready to fork out over £80 million despite already agreeing to a transfer fee worth £75m including add-ons for Wesley Fofana.
With Aymeric Laporte’s Manchester City future largely uncertain, Gvardiol will enter as a like-for-like, younger, taller, left-footed version of Laporte.
Manchester City have already secured the signing of Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea, replacing Ilkay Gundogan. They continue to work on the Gvardiol deal, besides pushing Kyle Walker to extend his stay at the Etihad amid serious interest from Bayern Munich.
-Roy Akarshak
Twitter: @RoyAkarshak
Photo: Steffen Prößdorf. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.
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