Manchester City and Leipzig reach agreement for Gvardiol deal

It’s just only a matter of days and a matter of other details to be completed before Croatian defender Josko Gvardiol becomes a Manchester City player after the Premier League champions and treble winners from last season agreed a deal to bring the player from Leipzig to the Premier League.

The Premier League champions reached an agreement with RB Leipzig for a deal worth around 90m euro fee (£77m) for the 2022 FIFA World Cup semi-final list. Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has been a long-time admirer of Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol, who he has been pursuing since before the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

The deal agreed on with RB Leipzig for the 21-year-old does not include add-ons which will make Harry Maguire move to Manchester United from Leicester City, which was worth 80 million pounds, remain a record for a defender.

It is expected that the player will be in England before the end of this week so as to undergo his medical and spectacularly strengthen the left side of his defence where at least three players can fit in, including Nathan Ake, Aymeric Laporte, Ruben Dias, and Manuel Akanji.

If and once the transfer is made official, the Croatian defender will become Manchester City’s second signing of the summer after Mateo Kovacic joined from Chelsea in June for a deal worth around 30 million pounds.

Kovacic will replace German midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, who moved to Barcelona at the end of the treble-winning season. Manchester City won the Premier League ahead of Arsenal, beat Manchester United in the FA Cup final at Wembley, and pipped Inter Milan to the UEFA Champions League trophy.

Manchester City will face Arsenal in the community shield this weekend before their Premier League opener next Friday against newly-promoted Burnley, who are coached by former Manchester City defender Vincent Kompany.

Daniel Ademiju Idowu