Manchester City and RB Leipzig are in active talks over a move for Josko Gvardiol, and a deal could be sealed by the end of the week, according to Fabrizio Romano.
Are Man City signing Josko Gvardiol?
The Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League winners have been heavily linked with a move for the centre-back this summer, with Pep Guardiola looking to bolster his squad ahead of the new campaign.
A transfer has proven tricky to complete, and although transfer expert Romano previously claimed the first part of Gvardiol’s medical had been completed ahead of a move to City, a deal is still yet to materialise.
Leipzig sporting director Max Eberl admitted towards the end of July that the two clubs haven’t agreed on a fee, saying:
"A lot has been written and the latest information about Josko surprised us all. Currently we're still very far apart.
"As you can see, Josko is here – so it's not true. He didn't do a medical check – not that we know. And I don't think he did it behind our backs because he's just a full professional. There is no agreement, not even remotely an agreement."
As a result, a number of City’s rivals have recently been looking to hijack a potential transfer, with reports suggesting that Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool have all submitted offers of their own.
Romano has now provided a further update regarding Gvardiol and a potential Etihad transfer in the last 48 hours, which looks positive. Taking to Twitter, the transfer expert said there is a verbal agreement in place between the two sides and that a deal could finally be signed and sealed by the end of the week.
“Manchester City and RB Leipzig are in active talks to seal Josko Gvardiol deal after the verbal agreement reached 10 days ago.
“It could be finally signed/sealed with all parties [including percentages of future sale/Dinamo Zagreb] by the end of the week.”
Other reports from Sky Sports are claiming a fee of £77.6m has now been agreed, so it looks like Romano's prediction of total completion by week's end might not be far off.
How good is Josko Gvardiol?
It does look as if a move to the blue side of Manchester is in the pipeline, and should a deal go through, Gvardiol could improve City’s options at the back even further.
Valued at a career-high €75m by Transfermarkt, Gvardiol has impressed over the past 12 months, with FBref ranking him in the top 1% of centre-backs for passes attempted, carries and passes received, showing how he could fit into Guardiola’s possession-based system with ease.
Compared to Ruben Dias, journalist Zach Lowy also labelled the player as a “sensational” defender at the World Cup in Qatar last year.
"Josko Gvardiol is a Rolls-Royce of a defender. 20 years old and the best player on the pitch in a match that featured Kevin De Bruyne and Luka Modric… sensational centre back."
He is also still just 21 years of age, so you’d like to think Guardiola could possibly take the player to the next level over the coming years, something which may make City even stronger at the back, and by the looks of things, we could see further developments very soon.