"Congrats brother (neighbors)" - Liverpool new signing sends message to Josko Gvardiol after Manchester City transfer

Liverpool's Dominik Szoboszlai has sent a message to Josko Gvardiol after his transfer to Manchester City was made official.

A drawn-out summer transfer saga culminated in the Cityzens agreeing a reported €90 million fee (h/t ESPN). He has signed a five-year deal and joins John Stones, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake, Aymeric Laporte and Manuel Akanji as Pep Guardiola's centre-back options.

Szoboszlai, who was Gvardiol's teammate at Leipzig for the last two seasons, took note of the transfer and sent a message to the Croatia international. He shared a photo of the centre-back signing his contract and captioned his story (h/t @estoesanfield_ on Twitter):

"What a spieler. Congrats brother (neighbors)"

Szoboszlai cost Liverpool €70 million this summer, and the 22-year-old is expected to be a regular starter under Jurgen Klopp from the get-go. However, Gvardiol will have to compete with several high-profile names to establish himself as a starting centre-back.

On signing for Manchester City, the former Dinamo Zagreb defender labelled City the best team in the world (h/t @FabrizioRomano):

"I have always dreamed of one day playing in England. ... this is an incredible day for me. Anyone who saw Manchester City play last season knows they are the best team in the world."

The 21-year-old played 87 times for RB Leipzig, with 74 of those appearances coming alongside Szoboszlai. The pair won two German Cups together before heading to England this summer.

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Liverpool wanted to sign Josko Gvardiol before Manchester City transfer

Josko Gvardiol signed for RB Leipzig from Dinamo Zagreb and was seen as a potential replacement for the Liverpool-bound Ibrahima Konate.

Immediately after joining the German team in 2021, the Croatian defender said that he wanted to play for Liverpool in the future. He told Croatian website 24Sata (h/t Tribuna):

"Liverpool (is my favourite foreign club). From a young age, I watched Liverpool games with my dad and how I grew up with just them. When I took football more seriously, I started following them, and I definitely want the Premiership and Liverpool."

The Reds reportedly took measures to make the move happen. According to Fabrizio Romano (h/t @LFCTransferRoom on Twitter), they called Leipzig in January to see if a move was possible.

However, they were told that Gvardiol wasn't available. The interest came after he impressed at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, playing in all seven games and keeping two clean sheets as his team finished third.

It remains to be seen if Jurgen Klopp and co. target another centre-back after the Crotian's transfer to Manchester City. Virgil van Dijk (32) and Joel Matip (31) could soon require long-term successors. Joe Gomez, meanwhile, has had his fair share of injuries at Merseyside.