Josko Gvardiol finally set for Man City move as treble winners agree £77m deal for RB Leipzig defender

Manchester City are finally set to sign RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol after agreeing a £77 million (€90m/$98m) fee with the Bundesliga side.

City have been negotiating with Leipzig throughout the summer and finally struck a deal on Tuesday. The two clubs have agreed a £77m fee, GOAL understands, and the deal does not contain any add-ons related to performance or success. Gvardiol, 21, is due to have his medical at the end of this week and City are hoping to officially announce the transfer by the end of the week or after the Community Shield fixture against Arsenal on Sunday.

The move will make Gvardiol the second most expensive defender of all time, with the fee being just shy of the £80m ($101m) Manchester United paid Leicester City for Harry Maguire in 2019 and just above the £75m ($95m) Liverpool paid to sign Virgil van Dijk from Southampton in January 2018.

Gvardiol will join fellow Croatian international Mateo Kovacic at City following the midfielder's £25m (€29m/$32m) move from Chelsea earlier this summer. The defender was one of the breakout stars of the 2022 World Cup and should fit perfectly into Pep Guardiola's defence after the Catalan began to move away from having attacking full-backs and began playing central defenders such as Nathan Ake, Manuel Akanji and John Stones on the flanks.

City face Arsenal in the Community Shield on Sunday then begin their Premier League title defence away to Vincent Kompany's Burnley on August 11.