Manchester United are reportedly planning to hijack Manchester City’s move to sign RB Leipzig star Josko Gvardiol this summer, as per the Spanish outlet Fichajes.
After enjoying a promising World Cup last year, helping Croatia to finish third in that competition, the 21-year-old has caught the attention of several big European clubs in recent times.
Liverpool and Chelsea previously expressed their interest in the youngster, but Man City have been showing the most concrete interest in Gvardiol as they have already opened formal talks with RB Leipzig to secure the defender’s signature.
Fabrizio Romano previously reported that the Citizens found a verbal agreement with the Bundesliga side to purchase the Croatian, but the Leipzig chief made it clear that they haven’t agreed to cash-in on their star man yet.
Nevertheless, it has been suggested that Man City remain in contact with Die Roten Bullen and they are the favourites to acquire his service having already agreed on personal terms with him.
Battle
However, according to the report by Fichajes, Man Utd are looking to bolster their backline this summer and have now also joined Pep Guardiola’s side in the race to sign Gvardiol.
The report further claims that Man City have been struggling to find an agreement with Leipzig to purchase Gvardiol and the Red Devils are looking to take advantage of this situation.
Fichajes also says that United have already ‘presented’ a formal offer but the Bundesliga side want a fee of around £86m[€100m] to sell their star man so Man Utd will have to break the bank to hijack Man City’s move this summer.
It has been suggested that Man Utd are open to letting Harry Maguire leave the club and they are looking to sign a new centre-back to replace the Englishman.
Ten Hag likes to deploy a left-footed defender on the left side of defence and United don’t have any backup option to Lisandro Martinez. So, purchasing a new left-footed defender would be a shrewd decision and Gvardiol would be an excellent signing.
It has been suggested that United’s summer budget has been restricted due to FFP regulations and they can’t spend more than £120m net. So, it is looking highly unlikely that Ten Hag’s side can afford to sign Gvardiol in this transfer window unless they manage to generate funds by selling some players.
It is going to be interesting to see whether Man Utd eventually manage to sign Gvardiol in this transfer window and beat the Citizens in this race.
