Josko Gvardiol, a defender for RB Leipzig, has a two-week window to agree to an £87 million transfer to Manchester City.
The German team is preparing prospective replacements for the Croatian centre back, who is 21 years old, and they aim to complete coach Marco Rose’s lineup before their August 12 German Super Cup match against Bayern Munich. Last year, Leipzig took home the German Cup.
City is willing to provide the Bundesliga club its full valuation, but Leipzig considers their offer unreasonable because it includes an upfront payment of £77 million and a package of add-ons. After helping Croatia advance to the World Cup semifinals, Gvardiol is one of the most intriguing young defenders in the world. A year ago, Chelsea was rumoured to be interested in signing him.
Mateo Kovavic, a fellow countryman of Gvardiol who joined City this summer for £25 million from Chelsea, is the only significant acquisition for the club this summer. James Trafford, Shea Charles, and others like Ilkay Gundogan have departed Pep Guardiola’s team.
While Rose intensifies his preseason training, Gvardiol is eager to join Guardiola’s Treble winners but is currently imprisoned in the Austrian Tyrol. The defender wanted to join City, but Leipzig are happy that he hasn’t been attempting to force them to sell.
After making great improvement in recent years, Leipzig is eager to compete with Bayern for the Bundesliga championship. Rose’s team, which was just founded 14 years ago, finished third in the Bundesliga last year and won the German Cup twice in a row.
