£86m Man City transfer ‘not close’ despite Romano ‘here we go’ as ‘tension’ threatens deal after ‘leak’ | OneFootball

Man City are interested in signing Josko Gvardiol.

Man City are reportedly “not close” to signing Croatia international Josko Gvardiol as RB Leipzig feel that he may still be with them next season.

Gvardiol has emerged as one of the best young defenders in the world during his time at RB Leipzig. He was heavily linked with Chelsea last summer but a deal could not be agreed between the two clubs.

The centre-back struggled against Lionel Messi at last year’s World Cup but he was still one of the tournament’s standout performers.

Pep Guardiola is seemingly obsessed with centre-backs and Gvardiol is understood to be the Spaniard’s top summer target.

Earlier this week, Fabrizio Romano took to Twitter to give Gvardiol’s move to Man City the “here we go” treatment.

The transfer guru reported that an “agreement” has been reached over a fee and a deal is “on the verge of being signed” after the player “completed the first part of his medical”.

But this has since been refuted by Sky Sports’ Kaveh Solhekol. He is of the understanding that a “deal is not close” at this stage.

“Conflicting reports about what’s going on with Gvardiol. There have been some reports that a deal has almost been agreed and is very, very close. This morning I’ve been speaking to some of my colleagues at Sky Germany and they have very good contacts at his club, RB Leipzig,” Solhekol said on Sky Sports.

“They are saying that as far as Leipzig are concerned, a deal is not close. They value the player at about 100 million euros, if he was to move for that it would make him the most expensive defender in the world, that would be around £86m.

“But Sky Germany are telling us this morning that as far as Leipzig are concerned, there is still a chance he may stay at the club. That could just be a negotiating tactic, maybe they want to get the news out there that they’re not going to let him go on the cheap.”

“But I think it’s an open secret that Guardiola wants the player, he’s one of the best young centre-backs in the world, has played really well for Leipzig over the last couple of seasons. He impressed at the World Cup as well, although he was given the run-a-round by Lionel Messi in an infamous incident. Apart from that, he helped Croatia to a third-place finish.

“He almost moved to Chelsea I think a year ago before he signed a new contract at Leipzig. So if City were to get him, I think it would be a fantastic signing but I don’t think they’ll be able to get him on the cheap. It will have to be a world record fee for a defender.”

On Thursday afternoon, Romano backtracked and revealed that there is “tension” between Man City and RB Leipzig.