Manchester City are still keeping a close eye on Josko Gvardiol it seems, with a report from 90min stating that the club had representatives in Germany at the weekend to watch the defender in action.
Are Manchester City signing Josko Gvardiol?
The RB Leipzig man has impressed once more in the Bundesliga this season, featuring in 2,171 minutes of action for the side so far in the domestic league. He also has an average WhoScored rating of 6.67 in the competition, which only places him 11th in the squad in terms of average score, but given he is still just 21 years old, his level of consistency and the trust his manager clearly has to pick him regularly speaks volumes.
His showings have also led to the defender being entrusted to help his country, Croatia, on the biggest stage of them all. He was a first-team regular for the side at the World Cup, and rather than let the occasion pass him by, Gvardiol ended up emerging as one of the standout players in the tournament. He played seven games in that competition and had a rating of 6.97 – his best score in any competition this season.
The Leipzig man is still playing some superb football on the big stage and it seemingly hasn't gone unnoticed elsewhere. Premier League side Man City look like they are still monitoring the 21-year-old closely, with 90min reporting that the club had representatives watching him in action against Bayern Munich as his team defeated the reigning German champions, and that he remains on the radar of Pep Guardiola's side.
Will Josko Gvardiol complete a deal this summer?
The defender has become hot property with the way he has handled himself for club and country. Man City still seem to be keen on the player and if they did want to add another centre-back to their team, they could arguably do a lot worse than Gvardiol this summer.
With 1.1 interceptions on average per game in the Bundesliga this season, the player ranks third in his side in that category. It shows that despite his relative inexperience, he already has a good understanding of the game and can pick out and predict where opposition players are going to pass the ball and break things up for them. He also ranks third for clearances, so City could be getting themselves a brick wall at the back if he was able to replicate his Leipzig form in the Premier League.
In addition, he's also been called "elite" by football talent scout Jacek Kulig. Having seen plenty of players in the game, that is certainly high praise indeed. Whilst he is likely to be expensive, with CIES Football Observatory suggesting that is worth around €100m (£86m), it could be a worthwhile investment considering his potential and how much he can already offer to a team.
City therefore have every right to keep an eye on him and should certainly do so, as if they want to add some more solidity to their backline, Gvardiol certainly appears to tick those boxes for the club.
