Man City to secure Liverpool’s dream signing with £77.6m deal set to be completed

Manchester City are set to complete the signing of RB Leipzig’s Josko Gvardiol by the ‘end of the week’ according to the latest reports.

The Croatian had been a target of Liverpool this summer as they looked to secure a left-footed centre-back to fit in Jurgen Klopp’s new system. Chelsea’s Levi Cowill was also targeted but neither deal threatened to develop past holding an interest.

It had been reported that due to Liverpool’s summer signing of Gvardiol’s former teammate Dominik Szoboszlai for £60m, the German club had no need to sell the defender to keep them financially stable. However, they were holding out for their a near-world-record fee for their prized asset.

Fans excitement had been peaked when Gvardiol revealed in January after the World Cup when he revealed he grew up watching Liverpool. He said: “My dream club? That would definitely be Liverpool. Since I was little, I watched a lot of their matches with my dad. We covered every season in detail. It is a club that has remained in my heart”.

Liverpool had explored his signing then but, in a shocking relevation, he was deemed too expensive. In terms of this summer, according to Spanish publication Fichajes, Liverpool, alongside Manchester United and Chelsea, have been placed on red alert and have even ‘submitted offers’ to try and hijack the defender’s move to the Etihad.

It seems to be in vain as the Citizens have made a profit so far this summer with their transfer business and a £77m fee would be no issue for one of the world’s richest clubs.

Gvardiol has built a strong reputation for club and country across the last two seasons and developed into one of the most wanted defenders in world football as a result.

Chelsea had seemingly agreed a deal last summer and January but neither came to fruition and now he looks set to join Pep Guardiola’s treble-winning squad ahead of the new campaign.

He was instrumental in Croatia’s run to the semi-finals of the World Cup in Qatar and he’s developed into one of Leipzig’s key players across his three years at the club, helping his side to win two German cups during that time.

It’s the same old story for Liverpool as another high-value target has slipped through their fingers to join a rival, leaving the Reds with Virgil Van Dijk, Joel Matip, Joe Gomez and Ibrahim Konate heading into the 2023/24 season.