SM
Watford vs. Oxford Utd: 4 hrs 52 mins
Upcoming predictions and previews
Collect News Data

Mateo Kovacic: 'Now is a good time for Josko Gvardiol to join Manchester City'

:Headline: Mateo Kovacic: 'Now is a good time for Josko Gvardiol to join Manchester City':
Manchester City midfielder Mateo Kovacic believes that the summer transfer window is a "good time" for Croatian compatriot Josko Gvardiol to move to the Etihad Stadium.
Sports Mole

Manchester City midfielder Mateo Kovacic believes that the summer transfer window is a "good time" for Croatian compatriot Josko Gvardiol to move to the Etihad Stadium.

The Citizens have been strongly linked with a big-money move for the RB Leipzig defender throughout this summer, with Pep Guardiola understood to have identified the 21-year-old as his primary target.

Reports earlier this month claimed that Man City had reached an agreement to sign Gvardiol and the defender had completed the first part of his medical.

However, Leipzig boss Marco Rose and sporting director Max Eberl have played down suggestions that an agreement has been reached and both clubs remain in negotiations, with the Bundesliga team alleged to have set a deadline of August 12 for the Citizens to agree a fee.

It is thought that Man City will be required to meet Leipzig's €100m (£85.9m) valuation of Gvardiol, which would make the Croatia international the most expensive defender of all time.

Despite recent reports claiming that Liverpool are planning to hijack City's attempts to sign Gvardiol, the treble winners remain optimistic that they can finalise a deal for the defender this summer.

Gvardiol is a 21-cap Croatia international and he played alongside City's new summer signing Kovacic – a £25m arrival from Chelsea – at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, helping the Checkered Ones win the third-placed playoff against Morocco.

Kovacic, who is a close friend of Gvardiol, believes that the highly-rated defender is "ready" to make the next step in his career and hopes that he can secure a move to the Etihad.

"Of course I'd like [Gvardiol] to join," the midfielder told reporters as quoted by The Express. "I know he's very young and has great potential. He can come here and learn and be the best version of himself, like he wants to be for sure.

"It's not for me to comment if it's going to happen or not. I'd obviously like it – I'm good friends with him and he's Croatian. It would be nice to have a Croatian by my side here.

"Josko is still young but he's very mature for his age. He doesn't need too much advice. He's already played a lot of big games and I think he's ready for this step.

"He had a great World Cup and a great season with RB Leipzig, so it would be nice for him to join such a big club and try to improve even more. I think it's a good time (to join Man City).

"[Man City] are on a great run, a very confident team and a team you can learn from – and they have possibly the best manager in history. I came here to join a great group and to try to learn – and so can he."

Gvardiol is widely regarded as one of the brightest prospects in world football and has come on leaps and bounds in recent years with both Leipzig and Croatia.

The left-footed defender, who can operate at both centre-back and left-back, has played 87 times in all competitions for Leipzig since joining the club from Dinamo Zagreb in 2020, and has won successive DFB-Pokals across the last two seasons.

Although Gvardiol has made it clear that he wants to join Man City this summer, Leipzig are under no financial pressure to sell the defender, who still has four years left on his contract, after the German club received £60.2m from the sale of Dominik Szoboszlai to Liverpool in June. body check tags ::

amp_article__520010 : Collect and Make Data not in DataBase  : 
last updated article - 2023-08-02 12:58:39:
html db last update - 2023-08-02 12:58:39 :

ex - 7200 : read : write cache and make html

Josko Gvardiol future - Click here for more stories

Click here for more stories about Mateo Kovacic

Click here for more stories about Liverpool

Share this article now:
CJ
Read Next:
Liverpool considering hijacking Man City bid for Josko Gvardiol?
>


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!
Read more about Mateo Kovacic Josko Gvardiol Marco Rose Max Eberl Pep Guardiola Dominik Szoboszlai Football
Follow @SportsMole for the latest breaking news stories, and follow @sm_headlines to get every headline from Sports Mole
Recommended Next on SM
Liverpool considering hijacking Man City bid for Josko Gvardiol?
"Of course" - Van Nistelrooy makes huge managerial claim ahead of Amorim move

Page options

Premier League Table
TeamPWDLFAGDPTS
1Liverpool108111961325
2Manchester CityMan City1072121111023
3Nottingham ForestNott'm Forest10541147719
4Chelsea105322012818
5Arsenal105321711618
6Aston Villa105321715218
7Tottenham HotspurSpurs1051422111116
8Brighton & Hove AlbionBrighton104421714316
9Fulham104331413115
10Bournemouth104331312115
11Newcastle UnitedNewcastle104331010015
12Brentford104151920-113
13Manchester UnitedMan Utd10334912-312
14West Ham UnitedWest Ham103251319-611
15Leicester CityLeicester102441418-410
16Everton102351017-79
17Crystal Palace10145813-57
18Ipswich TownIpswich100551021-115
19Southampton10118719-124
20Wolverhampton WanderersWolves100371427-133
Scroll for more - Tap for full version


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
AL
Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!

Loading ...

Failed to load data.

history www

Preview: Man Utd vs. Leicester - prediction, team news, lineups

1

PM

Preview: Chelsea vs. Arsenal - prediction, team news, lineups

2

PC

Cubarsi to play in a mask? Predicted Barcelona XI vs. Real Sociedad

NEW

3

CT

Will Palmer return? Chelsea injury, suspension list vs. Arsenal

4

WP

Eleven changes, will Palmer be one of them? Chelsea predicted XI against Arsenal

5

EC

Preview: Spurs vs. Ipswich - prediction, team news, lineups

6

PS

Win comes at a cost: Man United suffer fresh injury blow vs. PAOK

7

WC

Rice question answered, will Odegaard start? Arsenal predicted XI against Chelsea

8

RQ

Preview: Roma vs. Bologna - prediction, team news, lineups

9

PR

Chelsea vs. Arsenal: Head-to-head record and past meetings

10

CV


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .