Leipzig chief confirms that the Dominik Szoboszlai to Liverpool has scuppered Manchester City’s Josko Gvardiol bid
RB Leipzig sporting director Max Eberl reveals they are financially secure after selling Dominik Szoboszlai to Liverpool in a blow to Manchester City and their pursuit of Josko Gvardiol.
A couple of days ago, transfer journalist Fabrizio Romano tweeted that City have agreed on a deal with Josko Gvardiol and Leipzig to sign the Croatian defender.
Eberl confirms that City are not even close to any sort of agreement. He adds that Leipzig are under no financial pressure to sell Gvardiol, owing to the money they received from the Szoboszlai sale.
Here’s what Eberl said regarding this (h/t Sky Germany, via Manchester Evening News):
“There is no agreement with Manchester City. Not even close.
“The fact is that Man City would like to have him. Currently we are still very far apart. The transfer of [Dominik] Szoboszlai has secured us financially. We don’t need the money. We would prefer Joško to stay.”
As a Liverpool supporter, this feels good, isn’t it? It seems like City are desperate to sign Gvardiol in this transfer window, and for good reason. It would be the coup de grace should we somehow manage to land the Crotian for ourselves. We can dream after all.
The fact that the Croatian is a fantastic young defender who had an exceptional World Cup, backed up by good performances for Leipzig last season, he is one of the hottest properties in the game. Naturally, Pep Guardiola would be attracted to this.
Liverpool acted swiftly and in time to trigger a release clause of £60m to sign Szoboszlai at the end of last month. Seeing how the Hungary international played in the first pre-season game, albeit in a less-pressure environment, showed that he could be a game-changing signing for the Reds in midfield.
He and Alexis Mac Allister could just be the sort of central midfielders Jurgen Klopp needs to inject quality on and off the ball. Both can cover a lot of ground, are naturally creative on the ball and work hard off the ball. Szoboszlai has a great technique for hitting a shot.
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If City eventually fails to sign Gvardiol because Liverpool signed Szoboszlai to stabilise Leipzig, it might just be too funny and great to know!
