Manchester City are reportedly set to receive competition from Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester United as they bid to sign RB Leipzig centre-back Josko Gvardiol.
Pep Guardiola’s side have been linked with the £86million defender for some time, with the German outfit having now given City a deadline of August 12 to execute a transfer for the Croatian international.
Gvardiol, who’s excellent performances at the 2022 World Cup garnered him much attention from sides throughout Europe, could now be the subject of a four way bidding war.
That’s according to Spanish news outlet Fichajes, who are claiming that ‘Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool have come on to the scene and are ready to rob City of the opportunity to sign the centre-back’.
They add that ‘negotiations between Man City and the German club have stalled slightly, which has opened a window of opportunity for other clubs,’ and claim that the three English sides have ‘submitted offers to try to steal Gvardiol’.
Manchester City lead the way to sign Josko Gvardiol (pictured) but are coming under increasing pressure from Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool
Reports suggest that a stall in the negotiations for the deal may have put Pep Guardiola’s side a step back, with the three other Premier League sides all joining the race to sign him
While Harry Maguire holds the record of being the world’s most expensive defender after he joined United back in 2019 for a landmark £80m from Leicester, the race to sign Gvardiol could drive his price up way beyond that figure.
The 21-year-old joined the Bundesliga outfit in 2021 from Dinamo Zagreb and has gone on to make 87 appearances for the club, notably cementing himself as a starter at the back for Marco Rose’s side.
He made 30 appearances in the Bundesliga last season and featured in all but two of Leipzig’s Champions League matches, notably scoring their equalizer during their 1-1 draw against Man City back in February.
Mail Sport reported last week that the Treble winners have reached the final stage of talks with the German outfit to sign him while Pep Guardiola has also been eyeing up Lyon’s Abdoulaye Ndiaye.
Meanwhile, Manchester United have today been linked with two younger prospects too, with Erik ten Hag reigniting his interest in Jean-Clair Todibo and Everton’s Jarrad Branthwaite.
Chelsea are another club who have had a long-standing interest in singing the croatian, and according to Fichajes, will, alongside Man United and Liverpool, ‘fight tooth and nail to win the promising defender’.
Jurgen Klopp’s (pictured) Liverpool are joining the race to sign him, with the Reds also keen to sign Romeo Lavia
Mauricio Pochettino’s (pictured) side are also keen on signing Lavia as well as Gvardiol,
Meanwhile, Erik ten Hag (pictured) has also been eyeing up new defenders amid uncertainty over Harry Maguire’s future at the club
Man City midfielder Mateo Kovacic has been speaking on the move and has said his Croatian team-mate, Gvardiol, is ready to take the next step of his career and join him at the Etihad Stadium.
‘Josko has great potential,’ Kovacic said, after he too joined the club on a £25m deal this summer.
‘He can come here and learn and be the best version of himself. I’d obviously like it — I’m a good friend with him and he’s Croatian. It would be nice to have a Croatian by my side here.
‘He’s already played a lot of big games. He is ready for this step,’
‘I think it’s a good time (to join City). They are on a great run, a very confident team and a team you can learn from. They have possibly the best manager in history. So I came here to join a great group and to try to learn.
‘He’s still young but he’s mature. He doesn’t need much advice. He had a great World Cup and a great season with Leipzig.’
