RB Leipzig director confirms Josko Gvardiol will join Premier League giants in record-breaking deal worth over €100m

RB Leipzig sporting director Max Eberl has confirmed that Josko Gvardiol is on the verge of joining Manchester City in a record-breaking deal.

The German giants have reportedly placed a price tag of over €100 million (£86 million) on the Croatian centre-back. Eberl has claimed that if the price tag is met, the player will wear City blue next season. He said, via the Times:

"Gvardiol and his agents gave us their desire to move to Manchester City. We are in talks with City. 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."

The deal would eclipse the former record of £80 million Manchester United paid to sign Harry Maguire from Leicester City four years ago. Josko Gvardiol has seen his stocks rise massively over the past couple of seasons.

The Croat was initially transferred in the summer of 2021 to replace the void left behind by Ibrahima Konate's move to Liverpool. Since then, he has made 87 appearances across competitions for Leipzig and starred for Croatia at the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He helped his team keep two clean sheets and concede just six goals in seven games in Qatar.

Gvardiol's impressive defensive acumen coupled with his ability to play the ball out from defense make him an ideal signing for Pep Guardiola's team. But it remains to be seen where he will fit in the Spaniard's pecking order if he does make the switch to the Etihad.

Guardiola currently has Manuel Akanji, Ruben Dias, John Stones, Nathan Ake, and Aymeric Laporte as his centre-back options.

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Josko Gvardiol said he could have joined Premier League giants last summer

In the summer of 2022, Chelsea were in desperate need of quality centre-backs to fill the gap left by Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen's departures.

They wanted to sign Josko Gvardiol but RB Leipzig did not budge. Recalling the failed move, the former Dinamo Zagreb player told the Times in February (h/t 90min):

"My agent called me and said that Chelsea is extremely interested and, of course, you definitely think about a serious offer from a huge club like Chelsea. Leipzig said they didn’t want to sell me. In the end I really struggled with that decision but we didn’t make an agreement. It is what it is."

Gvardiol is now close to signing for Chelsea's Premier League rivals Manchester City. The Blues, meanwhile, ended that summer with the arrivals of Wesley Fofana and Kalidou Koulibaly in central defense.