Manchester City will reportedly have to pay a world-record transfer fee for a defender if they’re to sign RB Leipzig superstar Josko Gvardiol this summer.
According to Fabrizio Romano, the Croatian international is tipped to leave the Bundesliga side at the end of this season amid growing interest in the 21-year-old talent, with City one of three Premier League sides chasing the centre-back alongside Liverpool and Chelsea.
With Harry Maguire’s £80m move to Manchester United in 2019 still the world-record transfer for a defender, Gvardiol could easily obliterate this figure given how promising the Leipzig wonderkid is and how strong Premier League interest has been in the youngster.
City have been linked with Gvardiol for some time, with interest spiking, like many others, during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, where the Croatian international played a key role in pushing the European nation to the semi-finals of the competition in Qatar.
Indeed, Gvardiol’s potential and current ability clearly makes the centre-back one of the most prized assets in all of Europe, and with Leipzig set to demand a world-record fee for a defender this summer for their 21-year-old, City must be prepared to pay the big bucks to sign the youngster.
However, with Pep Guardiola expected to sign a top young defender this summer, the City boss might as well go for broke and look to bring in the best there is out there in the market, with that being Gvardiol, who could easily play for a top side for a decade.
City signing Gvardiol could be a sensational long-term investment
City are one of the biggest spenders in football, yet one key aspect to their incoming transfers is the longevity the majority of their new players have in the squad, with the likes of Ederson Moraes, Kevin De Bruyne and Kyle Walker all being signed some time ago and still being key members of the first-team.
And such thinking could be why City will and should sign Gvardiol for a world-record fee for a defender, with the Croatian talent a player who could easily play for Guardiola’s side for many years and become an icon at the Etihad Stadium, just like the aforementioned names have in the past few seasons.
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