London: Manchester City is on the verge of completing the signing of Croatian international central defender Josko Gvardiol from RB Leipzig for a fee of 78 million pounds.
City coach Pep Guardiola confirmed what had been an open secret for the past few days in a press conference on Friday, Xinhua reported.
“Regarding Gvardiol, he is doing a medical test. Everybody knows he is here so hopefully we can finish the deal in the next hours and days,” said Guardiola.
The 21-year-old defender, who impressed in the World Cup final, will become the second most expensive defender in the Premier League after the 80 million pounds Manchester United paid Leicester City for Harry Maguire in 2019.
Gvardiol will be the second major signing of the summer for the team that last season won the FA Cup, Premier League and Champions League, following the arrival of Matteo Kovacic from Chelsea.
The arrival of the left-footed stopper also means that the club is likely to allow Aymeric Laporte to leave. The French-born Spain international will find his game time even further limited by Gvardiol’s arrival after making just 24 appearances in all competitions last season.
Several clubs are thought to be interested in 29-year-old Laporte, including clubs in Saudi Arabia and Athletic Club Bilbao, where he spent his career before joining Manchester City in 2018.
Guardiola also discussed the future of Kyle Walker and Bernardo Silva in his press conference after they have been linked with Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona.
“They are so important for us. We want them and will do everything (to keep them). They have contracts and we want them to stay because they want to stay,” he added.
“To replace these two players is so difficult,” he added, before commenting that so far his club had not received any firm offers.
–IANS
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