RB Leipzig sporting director Max Eberl has confirmed that Josko Gvardiol is close to joining Manchester City in a record-breaking deal.
The German football giants put a value of more than 100 million euros (£86 million) for Croatian centre-back Josko Gvardiol. Mr Eberl insists that if this value is met, the Croatian will wear the blue shirt of Man City next season.
He told The Times: “Gvardiol and his agent have expressed a desire to move to Manchester City. We are in negotiations with them. Yes, with a value of more than 100 million euros plus bonuses, Gvardiol will come to hand. Pep Guardiola. This deal will make Gvardiol the most expensive centre-back in history. But it may take a few more days.”
It should also be known that the deal will surpass the £80m Manchester United paid to sign centre-back Harry Maguire from Leicester City four years ago. Currently, Josko Gvardiol has become one of the valuable assets in the last few seasons.
After Ibrahima Konate’s move to Liverpool, Gvardiol was brought to RB Leipzig in the summer of 2021 to fill the void at centre-back. Since then, he has made 87 appearances in tournaments in Leipzig and excelled for Croatia in the 2022 FIFA World Cup finals, where they finished third.
Gvardiol’s impressive defense combined with his quick counter-attacking style from behind makes him a logical signature for coach Pep Guardiola’s team. However, the problem is that it is unclear where Gvardiol will stand on the priority list of the Spaniard if he moves to the Etihad Stadium.
Currently, coach Pep Guardiola has abundant central defender options available such as Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Nathan Ake and Aymeric Laporte. However, if Gvardiol is added, the team that has just won the spectacular treble has more substitutions.
In addition, Man City also does not want Gvardiol to fall into the hands of big rival Chelsea, who have not given up their intention to buy this centre-back. Remember in the summer of 2022, Chelsea need to find quality central defenders to fill the void after the departure of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen. They wanted to sign Josko Gvardiol but RB Leipzig refused to give in.
Gvardiol recalled that unsuccessful transfer and told The Times: “My agent called me and said Chelsea were very interested in me. And of course, you would certainly think about a serious offer from him. a big team like the Blues, in a top league.
“Unfortunately Leipzig said they didn’t want to sell me. In the end, I had trouble with that decision, we didn’t reach an agreement. It was inevitable. I was forced to respect the opinion of the host club. “.
Currently, Gvardiol is close to signing for Chelsea’s Premier League rivals Manchester City. Meanwhile, Chelsea appear to have wrapped up the summer transfer window with the arrivals of Wesley Fofana and Kalidou Koulibaly in central defence.