admin Manchester City have agreed a fee to sign Josko Gvardiol, who will cost less than initially thought and below the world record for a defender.
Everything indicated that RB Leipzig wanted a record transfer fee for a defender if Manchester City signed Josko Gvardiola.
More than the £80m Manchester United spent on Harry Maguire in 2019 seemed necessary, and possibly closer to £100m. City have spent that amount before but prefer a budget of around £60m and have only spent more than £65m once. The Blues were fixated on Gvardiol and the fact that they were willing to pay that much shows how badly they wanted to sign him.
City believe Gvardiol could play a role in their defense over the next decade and see him as a long-term signing.Having accepted a transfer fee of €90m (£77.5m), he will be worth every penny if he does stay at Manchester until the 2033 transfer window, adding to the many promising signings of recent years.
To erase a ‘world record’ speech – The European press will claim €90m is more than Maguire’s fee, which at current exchange rates is £80m or €93m. It simply shows the rate of inflation over the past four years, with Gvardiola’s £77.5million being below Maguire’s fee and therefore not a world record for a defender.
That’s just over the £75m Liverpool signed for Virgil Van Dijk, which is now €87m. Born aged 26 in Southampton, previously played for Celtic. Chelsea signed Wesley Fofana, then 21, for €80m last summer.
Perhaps a more apt comparison is Matthijs de Ligt’s move from Ajax to Juventus in 2019 for £73million including surcharges. The Netherlands international was 19 at the time, had a good record and great potential as a teenager in the Netherlands. Three years later, he joined Bayern Munich last summer for £68m including bonuses.
Gvardiol is 21, with over 150 senior appearances to his name, and helped Croatia finish third at the 2022 World Cup. He also has two Croatian titles and two German Cups to his name. Securing him for a fixed fee with a long-term vision of his future feels like smart business – especially without the baggage of any World Record fee. It’s also on par for the best centre-backs on the market these days (and Maguire).
There is a reason City don’t feature too often on the most expensive transfer lists. They will walk away from deals that don’t suit them, and often come away with good value for money from the deals that do. Previous ‘long-term’ signings have still been purchased for significant fees, but have justified their price tags by repaying City’s faith in them. There are few ‘duds’ against Txiki Begiristain’s name.
Players like Dias, Erling Haaland, Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Kevin De Bruyne (plus others) all joined City for a lot of money, but less than some of their more extravagant rivals and market equivalents. That takes some pressure off, and Gvardiol joins the list as someone lined up for a long-term spell at City.
By agreeing a fee below Leipzig’s apparent record-breaking asking price, City’s transfer negotiators have secured another signing that won’t be judged by any tag that comes with it, and fits within their own valuation.
While City do walk away from deals, the fact that Gvardiol will become their second most-expensive signing also shows that they can be trusted in the transfer market, without paying over a figure they are comfortable with.
If they are willing to go as high as £77.5m, they have already shown how highly they rate him. If Gvardiol can help lead City’s defence into the next decade, then nobody will be talking about the transfer fee.
And he will still be cheaper than Maguire
