RB Leipzig double down on Man City top transfer target Josko Gvardiol
RB Leipzig have declared that a deal to take Joško Gvardiol to Manchester City is "not even close" after premature reports of an agreement.
It was claimed on Wednesday that Gvardiol was set to undergo a medical after the two clubs found an agreeable fee for the highly-rated 21-year-old defender. However, this was quickly dismissed and the player travelled with his current club to Italy for their pre-season training camp rather than heading for the exit door.
Leipzig coach Marco Rose poured scorn on the idea that Gvardiol would be elsewhere and his sporting director Max Eberl has backed that up with what appear to be definitive comments about the negotiations. "There is no agreement with Manchester City," he told Sky Sports in Germany. "Not even close."
He added: "The fact is that Man City would like to have him. Currently we are still very far apart. The transfer of [Diminik] Szoboszlai has secured us financially. We don't need the money. We would prefer Joško to stay."
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The Bundesliga club have already banked considerable money for a number of their players this summer including Dominik Szoboszlai to Liverpool for £60m and Christopher Nkunku to Chelsea for £52m, so can hold out for a fee around £90m for Gvardiol. They have recently signed a defender from Paris Saint-Germain though and are willing to sell Gvardiol if City can reach an agreement with them.
Gvardiol remains City's priority in the transfer window and there remains confidence that he will join despite a deal not being struck in time for the player to join the Blues on the start of their pre-season tour. City are at Wembley for the Community Shield against Arsenal in 16 days and
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