Manchester City already have five central defenders in John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji, but the London Evening Standard say Josko Gvardiol is on Pep Guardiola’s radar.
The 20-year-old has made 65 appearances in all competitions for RB Leipzig since joining the Bundesliga outfit from Dinamo Zagreb in 2021, scoring three goals with four assists.
He’s made a real name for himself at the World Cup with impressive performances for Croatia, leading to interest from a host of European giants, but City were actually linked with Gvardiol months ago.
The 6ft 1in defender, who has represented his country on 16 occasions, has five years remaining on his deal at the Red Bull Arena, so Leipzig aren’t obligated to cash in early. And City have enough left-sided options in defence (Ake, Laporte) without adding Gvardiol, so they might not make a move.
Unless Guardiola plans to sell an existing defender, there’s little need to sign a sixth. That’s not to say he wouldn’t be a good addition to the squad, however, with 3.1 turnovers, 6.3 clearances and 88.4 passes per game on average at the World Cup.
In other news, Pep Guardiola could drop John Stones after Kyle Walker returns from injury
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