Journalist Christian Falk has shared one of the reasons why Manchester City won’t pay any add-ons in the deal to sign Josko Gvardiol.
City began the summer with Gvardiol right at the top of their transfer wish list, and it now looks like they are finally going to sign the RB Leipzig defender.
Pep Guardiola regards the centre-back as one of the best players in the world in his position, so after missing out on targets Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham, City were desperate to sign the 21-year-old.
However, despite Gvardiol reportedly agreeing personal terms with City weeks ago, negotiations between the two clubs hit a sticking point regarding payment structure and achievable add-ons and bonuses.
The deal looked tough-and-go for a while, but this week City and Leipzig agreed upon a fixed fee of €90m (£77.5m) for the Croatia international.
The sum is less than Leipzig’s original asking price of €100m, meaning Gvardiol will not become the most expensive defender in football history.
That distinction belongs to Harry Maguire, whom Manchester United signed from Leicester City for £80m in 2019.
City will also not pay any future performance or achievement-based add-ons.
Add-ons replaced by friendly match
That City have managed to talk Leipzig down on both the transfer fee and add-ons elements of the deal is an impressive feat of negotiation.
However, it appears that there is one part of the deal that might have appeased Leipzig in the absence of add-ons.
One of the terms of the deal is that City will play a friendly against RB Leipzig at a yet-unspecified date.
According to Bild journalist Christian Falk, all of the money made from the game will go to the Bundesliga club, a sum that could be as much as £1.5m.
MCN view: City’s patience paid off
City’s director of football Txiki Begiristain deserves great praise for salvaging talks after tension started to grow between the two clubs.
The chances of Gvardiol winning major trophies at City are high, which could have resulted in hefty add-on payments. City will now avoid that.
