According to Fabrizio Romano, Manchester City and RB Leipzig are “ironing out” the final details of an agreement over the transfer of Joško Gvardiol, and the deal is set to be signed by the end of the week.
A deal is believed to be in place for a €90m fee- which would make the 21-year-old the most expensive defender in world football.
Furthermore, the Croatian international has already agreed personal terms with The Citizens and he is now set to undergo his medical on Friday, providing all goes to plan.
However, this is the second medical that has been scheduled in Manchester for Gvardiol, with reports several weeks ago stating that the two sides reached a verbal agreement with one another and arranged for the player to complete a medical. However, due to tensions faced during the final stage of negotiations, the green light for the move was eventually not given by the German side.
Despite this, talks did subsequently continue, and City and Leipzig have now seemingly reached an official agreement, and it is expected that the deal will be finalized in the coming days.
The move for the left-footed defender comes after his successful two years in Germany. Since joining Die Roten for €19m from Dinamo Zagreb in July 2021, the Croat has won two DFB-Pokals and impressed many with his excellent speed, physicality, and ability to progress the ball- as he also demonstrated in his seven World Cup appearances for Zlatko Dalić’s 2022 semi-finalists.
In addition to this, with the ability to play at both left-back and left-centre back, Gvardiol’s skillset allows him to fit perfectly in Pep Guardiola’s defence, possibly taking up a similar role to that of Nathan Ake’s last season.
This potential signing marks one of what is set to be many changes at The Etihad this summer, with Mateo Kovačić already having joined for €30m from Premier League rivals Chelsea, whilst several departures have either already taken place or are impending. İlkay Gündoğan and Riyad Mahrez have already departed, whilst defenders João Cancelo, Aymeric Laporte and Kyle Walker could also leave the treble winners- the latter of which has already agreed verbal terms with Thomas Tuchel’s Bayern Munich.
Travis Levison | Get Football
