Manchester City are reportedly still confident of landing a transfer deal for RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol this summer.
Earlier this week, it was reported that the two clubs had agreed a deal that would see the centre-back join the Manchester club and that he had already completed part of a medical.
However, this has since been debunked, with Leipzig’s director, Max Eberl, revealing that no deal has been struck for the Croatian, who has been described as an “extraordinary” player in the past by Ivica Olic.
With the Citizens now failing to sign the 21-year-old before starting their pre-season tour of Asia, some behind-the-scenes have emerged regarding the club’s current stance in their chase for Gvardiol.
City still confident of signing Gvardiol
According to a recent report from the Manchester Evening News, Gvardiol “remains City’s priority in the transfer window and there remains confidence that he will join despite a deal not being struck in time for the player to join the Blues on the start of their pre-season tour.”
After agreeing personal terms with the European champions and even telling Leipzig that he wants to join Pep Guardiola’s side this summer, this could be why the club are still confident of landing his signature before the window closes.
However, with the German club reportedly wanting a fee of €100m (£86m) to sell the defender, this makes it easy to see why negotiations haven’t been particularly quick given how big a deal would be, especially since the Citizens have shown previously they aren’t willing to pay what they feel is more than a player is worth.
The fact that they haven’t walked away from a deal, as they did with Declan Rice earlier in the window, shows that this is a move they want to complete.
Now that it has been claimed that there is still confidence from City that this move for Gvardiol will happen, this should reassure a lot of supporters that are hoping to see it get finalised.
