Manchester City have reportedly submitted a bid for RB Leipzig star Josko Gvardiol and the centre-back could prove to be a repeat of the masterclass that saw Manuel Akanji join during the summer.
French news outlet Foot Mercato claim that the Citizens have bid £85m for the 20-year-old, who was one of Croatia’s star performers at the World Cup in Qatar as they reached the semi-final stage.
Although he was terrorised by Lionel Messi on Tuesday night as they fell to a 3-0 defeat, he was certainly one of the standouts in Zlatko Dalic’s side throughout the tournament, as was emphasised by Daily Express journalist Ryan Taylor.
He said: “Joško Gvardiol could be worth the eye-watering figures currently being quoted by RB Leipzig. Watched him very closely at World Cup & his reading of the game is exceptional. Still only 20. Man mountain & can also play with both feet.”
Gvardiol seemingly has the world at his feet and already looks to have all the attributes to be a success in the Premier League and in a Pep Guardiola side, as FBRef suggests that he scores in the very top percentile for passes and dribbles completed when compared to other centre-backs in Europe’s top leagues.
The same website also claims that City summer signing Akanji is the third-most similar defender to Gvardiol in world football, and given his impact at the Etihad, the Croatia international would surely be a superb addition.
Since signing from Borussia Dortmund ahead of the 2022/23 campaign, the Swiss defender has made eight appearances in the Premier League and averaged a solid 6.68 rating from WhoScored for his performances, despite many believing that he would only be a backup when he arrived.
When comparing the two defender’s stats from this season, they have recorded remarkably similar scores with regard to expected goals and assists (both 0.6), final third passes (44 vs 41) and recoveries (45 vs 40).
WhoScored also suggests that both Akanji and Gvardiol excel at passing, so the latter would certainly be a good fit in Guardiola’s system. Indeed, they are both incredibly forward-thinking defenders with the pair completing between 87%-91% of their passes in the last 365 days.
With that in mind, Txiki should do all he can to ensure that the Citizens win the race for the Croatian wonderkid in January.