Pep Guardiola lands his £77m top defender from Leipzig

Manchester City have agreed a 90m euro fee (£77m) with RB Leipzig for Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol.

The deal for the 21-year-old does not include add-ons, meaning the £80m Manchester United paid Leicester City for Harry Maguire in 2019 remains the British record for a defender.

He has been a key player for Leipzig in the 87 games he played for them since signing from Dynamo Zagreb in 2021.

It is expected Gvardiol will fly to England for a medical later this week

The deal looked unlikely to be agreed last week when Leipzig insisted they would not sell for less than €100m (£86m).

Manager Pep Guardiola believes Gvardiol will strengthen the left side of his central defence and, with Ruben Dias, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake also able to fill that position, his arrival may put the future of Aymeric Laporte at Etihad Stadium under the microscope.

Gvardiol, who is also able to play left-back, becomes City’s second major signing of the summer following the arrival of fellow Croatian Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea in June for an initial £25m.

Credit: bbc.com

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