Manchester City are on the brink of making Josko Gvardiol the most expensive defender in world football history with negotiations over a £86 million deal with RB Leipzig expected to be concluded in the coming days.
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 Bundesliga to the Premier League champions this summer.
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.
City have targeted Gvardiol, 21, 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 Ake and Manuel Akanji played full-back at times during the Treble-winning season. Aymeric Laporte could move on this summer after losing his place in the team.
City have also signed Mateo Kovacic, Gvardiol’s international team-mate, in a deal worth £30 million 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 £60 million.
