Manchester City will make their third Croatian signing of the summer, but he won’t start working with Pep Guardiola just yet.
City began the summer transfer window by signing midfielder Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea for £25 million.
The treble winners followed that up with the capture of £77.6m centre-back Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig.
Both are Croatian internationals and could one day be joined in Guardiola’s squad by one of their compatriots.
City to sign Lalic
According to Fabrizio Romano, City Football Group have reached an agreement to sign 17-year-old midfielder Leon Lalic from Red Bull Salzburg.
The Croatian youngster has played in the club’s youth ranks since joining from FK Austria Vienna in 2019.
The left-footed attacking midfielder holds dual citizenship, having represented both Austria and Croatia at youth level.
While City are always on the lookout for the next big thing, Lalic will not join Guardiola’s side just yet.
Romano reported that Lalic will join Belgian second division side Lommel SK, a member of City Football Group.
According to Romano, Lalic was followed for more than two years by City scout David Fernandez and his team.
City looking to the future
Whether or not Lalic goes on to play for City remains to be seen, but regardless, his signing still makes sense.
City have made record sales from academy talents this summer, and are now looking to replenish their youth ranks so that they can keep producing top young talents in years to come.
Those youngsters will either help to bolster Guardiola’s squad – a la Cole Palmer and Rico Lewis – or will be sold to raise funds, as has been the case with Carlos Borges and James Trafford among others.
