Why Manchester City’s move for Josko Gvardiol is taking so long

It was claimed last month that Manchester City were making progress in a deal for the RB Leipzig centre-back on the player’s side.

Fabrizio Romano then provided an update on the situation last week: “I can say that Manchester City are still working hard on Josko Gvardiol deal behind the scenes,” Romano said.

“The situation has been pretty quiet in the media but City and RB Leipzig remain in direct contact.”

Now, an insight into why a deal is taking so long has been provided by Christian Falk, who claims RB Leipzig appear to be keen on bringing in key signings before sanctioning the release of Josko Gvardiol this summer.

It is suggested Leipzig do not want to sell Gvardiol for a high fee before securing a replacement as clubs may demand more knowing the German side have just secured a big transfer fee:

“Leipzig’s first offer for Castello Lukeba was €26m and €6m in add-ons. That was not enough for Lyon. That’s why they have to go up. So Lyon wants €30m as a base fee. Leipzig is working on how to arrange this,” Falk said.

“This is also interesting for England – that’s why it’s a little bit quiet at the moment over Josko Gvardiol, because Leipzig knows at the moment that if they get a package of €100m, the other clubs will say ‘hey, you’ve got €100m, so you can spend a little bit more on the player’.”

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