Manchester City pushing to complete record-breaking deal

Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola will be keen to bolster his squad this summer in a bid for further success next season. 

Last term the Citizens completed a remarkable treble, winning the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup – an achievement that only Manchester United in 1999 have ever completed.

Since then midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has departed the club, although City have completed the signing of Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea.

It appears that Guardiola is on the hunt for a new defender, though, and reports suggest that they are pushing to get a record-breaking deal completed.

As per 90min, City are pushing to complete the signing of defender Josko Gvardiol from German side RB Leipzig.

The report claims that the Manchester outfit have been in talks over a deal that would make the Croatian the most expensive defender of all time.

Leipzig have already publicly claimed that City will have to pay around £86 million to land Gvardiol, a fee that would make him the most expensive defender in history.

The 21-year-old joined the Bundesliga club from Croatian outfit Dinamo Zagreb in 2021 and has endured a superb first two seasons in Germany so far.

Gvardiol could become the most expensive defender of all time if he joins Manchester City

In total, the centre-back has made 87 appearances across all competitions, helping Leipzig to a third-placed finish in the German top flight last term.

The report claims that personal terms won’t be an issue and are all-but-agreed between the player’s representatives and City.

City are said to be confident that a deal is close, but the structure of the deal and the payment plan are things that currently need to be finalised.

It is also claimed that all parties expect a deal to be completed before City travel to Asia for their pre-season tour later this month.

Last year, Gvardiol played a key role in helping Croatia to a third-placed finish at the World Cup in Qatar, and he has also lifted the German Cup during each of his seasons with Leipzig.