Izuchukwu OkosiManchester City are on the cusp of signing Croatia centre back Josko Gvardiol for a reported £77m deal (90 million euros) from German club Leipzig, making him one of the world’s most expensive defenders.
City, who won the treble last season, are gearing up for next Sunday’s Community Shield against Arsenal and are billed to complete the signing of the 21 year-old after the regulatory medical examination.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe deal will make the massively built defender one of the most expensive defenders on the game after Manchester United’s Harry Maguire cost 80 million pounds (then $97 million) when he joined from Leicester in 2019.
Furthermore, Virgil van Dijk moved from Southampton to Liverpool for 75 million pounds (then $100 million) in 2018.
Neither City nor Leipzig have commented publicly about the deal for Gvardiol, but several English media outlets have carried the reports including those set for publications on Thursday as monitored by Prime Business Africa.
The 21-year-old Gvardiol, known as “Little Pep” because of his name’s likeness to City manager Pep Guardiola, is one of the most highly rated defenders in the world and enhanced his reputation with impressive performances for Croatia at the World Cup last year.
He has played for Leipzig for two seasons, having previously been at Dinamo Zagreb. He was immediately a key player in the Bundesliga at the age of just 19, winning the German Cup in each of his seasons with Leipzig.
Gvardiol is a left-footed center back and would likely play on the left of City’s back three, if Guardiola persists with a 3-2-4-1 formation he deployed in the second half of last season.
Izuchukwu Okosi is a Nigerian sports and entertainment journalist with two decades of experience in the media industry having begun his media journey in 2002 as an intern at Mundial Sports International (MSI) and Africa Independent Television (AIT), owners of Daar Communications Plc.
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