Manchester City will look to secure their second major signing of the summer as they intensify their pursuit of Josko Gvardiol.
Pep Guardiola's side finalised a deal for Mateo Kovacic last week after agreeing to pay Chelsea an initial £25million for the midfielder, with another £5million in add-ons included in the proposal. The Croatian international arrived just days after the departure of club captain Ilkay Gundogan, who joined Barcelona upon the expiry of his contract.
And City look set to continue the Croatian connection, with RB Leipzig sporting director Max Eberl confirming that Gvardiol wants to join the Blues and talks are intensifying as the two parties work towards an agreement. The German side want €100million, making the 21-year-old the most expensive defender in history.
"Gvardiol and his agents gave us their desire to move to Manchester City," said Eberl. "We are in talks with City. Yes, for €100 million (£86million) plus bonuses, Gvardiol will end up in Pep’s strong hands. The value of the deal would make Gvardiol the most expensive defender in history, but it might take a few more days."
ALSO READ: City handed major Gvardiol boost as RB Leipzig chief makes transfer admission
Whether City bow to those demands remains to be seen, but they have evidently set their sights on Gvardiol, who was very impressive at the World Cup in Qatar and was a consistent performer for Leipzig throughout last season. Guardiola will hope to get a deal over the line in plenty of time for the defender to join up for pre-season and the upcoming tour of Asia.
It might not be long until we find out what shirt number Gvardiol will don at City, and here are the options currently available for him.
No.11 - Unoccupied since Oleksandr Zinchenko left City for Arsenal last summer and worn before him by Aleksandar Kolarov. It would be a bold choice for a centre-back to wear the No.11.
No.12 - Gvardiol's former Leipzig teammate Angelino was the last player to wear this number at City, having left it open when he departed for Germany in 2020. Strangely, it has been worn for just two seasons out of the last 11 campaigns, having been donned by Scott Sinclair in 2014/2015.
No.15 - Vacated by Eliaquim Mangala in 2019 and one of few available options to have recently been worn by a central defender.
No.24 - Another worn last by a central defender, this time Tosin Adarabioyo who left for Fulham in 2020. Previously worn by John Stones in 2016/2017 - his debut campaign - before he took the No.5 from Pablo Zabaleta the following year.
Numbers 27-30 are all available, as are the majority of anything above 33. Gvardiol's number for his entire spell at Leipzig, and his final year with Dinamo Zagreb, was 32, which is currently occupied by Maximo Perrone.
