Manchester City are readying an improved bid for RB Leipzig’s Joško Gvardiol, according to Fabrizio Romano. This comes after the treble-winners agreed personal terms with the Croatian defender.
The German club’s sporting director, Max Eberl, has revealed the talks with City and says a deal for the Croatia centre-back will start at €100 million before add-ons.
Gvardiol’s representatives have told his club their client wants to move from the Bundesliga to the Premier League champions this summer.
Pep Guardiola’s side have already submitted an offer of €90m plus bonuses, as reported by Sky Germany last month, but RB Leipzig want at least €100m for Gvardiol.
According to the latest information from Fabrizio Romano, Verbal approaches from Manchester City for a €75 million transfer fee plus add-ons for Josko Gvardiol were rejected by RB Leipzig.
As per the Italian Journalist, talks continue as City prepare an official bid, with the Bundesliga side wanting at least €100 million.
His fee would be more than the £85 million Manchester United paid for Harry Maguire in 2019, which is currently the most expensive fee for a defender ahead of Virgil van Dijk to Liverpool and Matthijs de Ligt to Juventus.
After interest from Chelsea, Gvardiol signed a new RB Leipzig contract until 2027 last summer with an exit clause of €110m, but that doesn’t become active until 2024.
City have targeted the 21-year-old defender as the best centre-back available to them this summer in a position Pep Guardiola has prioritised to strengthen.
“Gvardiol and his agents gave us their desire to move to Manchester City. We are in talks with City,” said Eberl. “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.”
Guardiola has Ruben Dias as the cornerstone of his defence, while John Stones has often been used in midfield, with Nathan Aké and Manuel Akanji played full-back at times during the Treble-winning season. Aymeric Laporte could move after losing his place in the team.
City have also signed Mateo Kovacic, Gvardiol’s international team-mate, in a deal worth £30 million (€35m) from Chelsea. They were looking at a deal for Declan Rice but refused to get into a bidding war with Arsenal, with the England midfielder a consideration in the area where they lost Ilkay Gundogan, who moved to Barcelona as a free agent. Leipzig also sold Dominik Szoboszlai to Liverpool for £60m (€70m).
