Manchester City have come to agreement with RB Leipzig to make Josko Gvardiol the most expensive defender of all time, sources have told 90min.
The two clubs have been locked in talks for weeks with only finer details needed to be agreed upon, and it is now understood that an agreement has been reached that will see City pay an initial £77.5m (€90m) plus a further £8.6m (€10m) in add-ons.
The deal, which also includes an agreement that City will play a friendly in Leipzig in the future, will beat the previous record set by Manchester United when they paid £80m (€92m) to Leicester City for Harry Maguire in 2019.
Gvardiol has already agreed personal terms with City, having been waiting on the deal for much of the summer, and is now due to undergo a medical in England before the weekend. City hope that the deal will be completed ahead of this weekend's FA Community Shield clash with Arsenal at Wembley.
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21-year-old Gvardiol is set to become City's second signing of the summer following countryman Mateo Kovacic into the Etihad Stadium. The former Chelsea man has already sang the praises of his future club-mate.
"Josko has great potential, he can come here and learn and be the best version of himself. I'd obviously like it - I'm a good friend with him and he’s Croatian. It would be nice to have a Croatian by my side here," Kovacic said earlier this month.
"I think it's a good time [to join City]. They are on a great run, a very confident team and a team you can learn from. They have possibly the best manager in history. So I came here to join a great group and to try to learn.
"He's still young but he’s mature. He doesn't need much advice. He had a great World Cup and a great season with Leipzig."
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This article was originally published on 90min as Man City finalise world-record agreement with RB Leipzig for Josko Gvardiol.
