Pep Guardiola is beefing up his defense for next season. The Spaniard has a jam-packed team of forwards which is inducing him to go all in for the likes of Josko Gvardiol.
The RB Leipzig defender has already agreed personal terms with the Cityzens and now only progress between the two teams awaits. RB Leipzig had already declined City’s first bid after which they have recently tabled a new bid of £77m million plus add-ons. The German club however value him for £85 million and are not willing to compromise courtesy interest from other European clubs primarily Chelsea.
Meanwhile, Mauricio Pochettino is pacing up to build his defensive unit as well and may get into the race to sign the 21-year-old. Chelsea had submitted their £77.4 million bid last summer which eventually failed to materialize. Gvardiol however had expressed his intentions to join the London club.
‘I was really confused because one month before the window starts I was upstairs with the sporting director and he says, ‘Yeah Josko, we are not going to sell you, we need you, we believe in you,’ and I was like ok I am fine with this, I can stay here, I like it here, all I need is to work on myself, to play, to win something else. It was like this until the last two days,’ Gvardiol said in an interview with The Times in February. ‘My agent called me and said that Chelsea is extremely interested and, of course, you definitely think about a serious offer from a huge club like Chelsea.
‘Leipzig said they didn’t want to sell me. In the end I really struggled with that decision but we didn’t make an agreement. It is what it is.’
Although Chelsea failed to succeed last time, they have garnered enough funds from Saudi clubs to lash in for Gvardiol. Manchester City are aware of that and have paced up their pursuit to not let one more Leipzig player go the Chelsea way.
