Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is seeking to recruit a player from RB Leipzig this summer, but the German club has already sold players to Liverpool and Chelsea.
Man City is under pressure from Liverpool and Chelsea due to the £87 million signing.
Manchester City have been given a two-week deadline to seal an £87million deal for RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol.
The German club is looking for prospective replacements for the 21-year-old Croatian center-back and wants to finalize coach Marco Rose’s roster before their German Super Cup match against Bayern Munich on August 12. Last season, Leipzig won the German Cup.
City are willing to pay Leipzig their full valuation, but their offer consists of a £77 million upfront payment and a package of add-ons that Leipzig consider unfeasible. Gvardiol is one of the world’s most exciting young defenders after helping Croatia reach the World Cup semi-finals, and he was linked with a move to Chelsea a year ago.
City have only made one huge acquisition this summer: Gvardiol’s compatriot Mateo Kovavic, who joined from Chelsea for £25 million last month. Pep Guardiola’s side has lost players such as Ilkay Gundogan, Shea Charles, and James Trafford.
Gvardiol is eager to join Guardiola’s Treble winners, but is now in Austrian Tyrol as Rose ramps up his pre-season training. Leipzig are relieved that despite his desire to join City, the defender has not tried to compel them to sell.
After making great improvement in recent years, Leipzig is eager to challenge Bayern for the Bundesliga title. Rose’s team, which was founded only 14 years ago, finished third in the Bundesliga and won the German Cup for the second time in a row last season.
Leipzig have inquired about Feyenoord defender Lutsharel Geertruida as a possible replacement for Gvardiol, but are unwilling to accept City’s £40m asking price until they receive full value. The 23-year-old assisted Feyenoord in winning the Eredivisie last season and has three senior caps for the Netherlands.
Leipzig is also keeping an eye on Lyon’s Castello Lukeba as a possibility. The 20-year-old defender has appeared in 68 first-team games for Lyon over the last two seasons and is a member of France’s U21 squad, but he has yet to earn his first senior cap.
Leipzig are attempting to secure a deal before selling Gvardiol because they are concerned that teams would raise their asking prices if they add more money to their overflowing bank account.
This summer, they made a lot of money by selling Hungarian midfielder Dominik Szoboszlai to Liverpool for £60 million and French attacker Christopher Nkunku to Chelsea for £52 million. Both players will be a significant loss for Leipzig. Szoboszlai had 10 goals and 13 assists last season, while Nkunku has scored 58 goals since August 2021.
“Financially, we are fine,” declared Sporting Director Max Eberl. We’ve sold a lot of stuff and made some solid inbound deals. We’ve made 16 transfers in total, and our 29-man squad is ideal if Gvardiol remains.”
