Curated By: Amar Sunil Panicker
Last Updated: July 20, 2023, 00:21 IST
London, United Kingdom (UK)
The 21-year-old will make the move to Manchester City to a better league in England – (Image: AFP)
With the addition of Josko Gvardiol, Manchester City will have even more depth defensively as the side will look to transition into a new core group of players.
Treble winners Manchester City are looking to add more strength to their defensive line as the Premier League giants have reached an agreement to sign Josko Gvardiol. Pep Guardiola’s City set their eyes on Gvardiol after the most successful season in club’s history. Gvardiol has been in demand after his impressive show last season with RB Leipzig and the national team. He was one of the best defenders in the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
According to renowned football journalist, Fabrizio Romano, City have reached an agreement to sign the Croatian defender from Leipzig.
EXCLUSIVE: Joško Gvardiol to Man City, here we go! Agreement reached on the fee between City and Leipzig ???????? Understand Gvardiol has completed the first part of medical tests today — deal on the verge of being signed.
Gvardiol agreed personal terms one month ago with City. pic.twitter.com/njylKAxYAU
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 19, 2023
In the Qatar World Cup, Gvardiol put in good performances for the national team to take them through the group stage with sides like Belgium to compete with. However, Croatia ended their campaign in the semifinal after suffering defeat against Argentina.
Gvardiol has been a top prospect across the world being only 21 years old. He has versatility as he can also play left-back and centre-back. He also holds the record for being the youngest Croatian to score in the Champions League knock-out phase when he scored against his new club Manchester City.
He will be looking to compete for a starting position in the Manchester City defence with the likes of Walker, and Cancelo all looking to leave whilst John Stones, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake, and Aymeric Laporte are all competing for a starting position.
Gvardiol will bring in pace and defensive stability as well as physicality with the Croatian being an all-around defensive unit at such a young age. Under the current manager, Pep Guardiola, he will be able to improve his game to further heights as the Premier League will be a more demanding league from a physical aspect.
Manchester City are coming off an iconic season as the side went on to complete the treble where they won the FA Cup, the Premier League as well as the coveted Champions League. Pep finally broke the curse of not being able to win the Champions League with a club that is not FC Barcelona. The side managed to win all trophies despite being on the backfoot as Arsenal had mounted a serious challenge for the league.
With the addition of Gvardiol, Pep will have even more depth defensively as the side will look to transition into a new core group of players as the departures of Gundogan to Barcelona, rumours of Riyad Mahrez to Saudi, and Walker to Bayern all indicate that Pep has the challenge of rebuilding the core group of players.
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