Manchester City and RB Leipzig have agreed a deal of 90 million euros (£77 million) for Croatia defender Josko Gvardiol.
The fee for the 21-year-old does not include any add-ons, therefore Manchester United’s £80 million fee for Harry Maguire from Leicester City in 2019 remains the British record for a defender.
In the 87 games he has appeared for Leipzig since joining Dynamo Zagreb in 2021, he has been a crucial player.
Later this week, he is set to go to England for a physical.
The transaction appeared unlikely to go through after Leipzig stated last week that they would not sell for less than €100 million (£86 million).
Manager Pep Guardiola feels Gvardiol will bolster the left side of his central defence, which is also Ruben Dias’ position, and his arrival may cast doubt on Aymeric Laporte’s future at Etihad Stadium.
Gvardiol is City’s second significant summer acquisition, after the arrival of fellow Croatian Mateo Kovacic from Chelsea in June for an initial fee of £25 million. Kovacic will effectively replace Ilkay Gundogan in City’s midfield after the club’s captain left on a free transfer to join Barcelona, while winger Riyad Mahrez joined Saudi Arabia’s Al-Ahli last week in a £30 million deal.
Gvardiol, who has two goals in 21 Croatian games, helped his side finish third in the 2022 Qatar World Cup and second to Spain in this year’s Nations League.
He also won back-to-back championships with Zagreb, finishing with a league and cup double before joining the Bundesliga.
During Gvardiol’s stay in Germany, Leipzig qualified for the Champions League twice, finishing fourth and third in the Bundesliga.
His former team has basically knocked him out of the Champions League twice in the last two seasons.
In 2021-22, Leipzig finished third in a group dominated by City and lost 8-1 over two legs in the round of 16 last season, including a 7-0 defeat at the Etihad.
