TalkSPORT journalist Alex Crook has claimed that Josko Gvardiol is a top target for Manchester City during the upcoming summer transfer window.
Last month, it was reported that the Manchester club have an interest in signing the RB Leipzig defender this summer.
Having now brought an end to their treble-winning season, some details have emerged regarding the Citizens’ links with the Croatian.
Crook shares potential transfer fee for Gvardiol
Speaking on talkSPORT, Crook said this about the club’s interest in Gvardiol when asked about what City’s transfer window could look like.
He said: “You may remember him being tied in knots by Lionel Messi at the World Cup but apart from that had a very good World Cup.
“Rated as one of the up-and-coming defenders in Europe, he’s going to cost big money, he’s got a £100m release clause that doesn’t kick in until next summer, but you’re still looking at £75m-£80m to sign him but he’s definitely a target.”
Since joining Leipzig back in 2021, the 21-year-old has made 87 appearances for the club across all competitions, scoring five goals and chipping in with three assists.
Having been described as the “best central defender in the world” by Zlatko Dalic, the Croatia manager also said this about Gvardiol.
He said: “He is so strong, confident and elegant at the same time, and does everything with incredible ease.”
After finding himself on the end of some heavy praise for his efforts with Croatia in the World Cup, as Crook mentioned, the centre-back went on to show his defensive attributes in the recent Bundesliga campaign.
For example, across his 30 league appearances, Gvardiol ended the season with the second-highest number of clearances (76) made in the Leipzig squad and the highest passing accuracy percentage (89.1%) out of players that made more than two passes.
With that in mind, if City believe the Leipzig star is worth the potential fee that Crook mentioned, we feel that given his age and the hype around him, this could be a great bit of long-term business for the club to complete this summer.
