Barcelona’s bombastic start to the summer looks set to continue, with a Premier League defender reportedly on their agenda. The Blaugrana have already reached an agreement with Newcastle United to sign Anthony Gordon, rumoured to be in the region of around €80m, a deal that came from nowhere.
Now they have been linked with Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol. The Catalan giants were initially linked with Alessandro Bastoni in recent months, but appear to have lost interest in the Inter defender. The first reports of Barcelona’s interest in Bastoni also suggested that Gvardiol was among the players that most impressed them, but at the time was deemed too expensive.
Now Cadena Cope have reported that Barcelona are working on a deal for Gvardiol, although they have misreported that he only has a year remaining on his deal. In fact, Gvardiol has two years left on his contract, which runs until 2028. Elsewhere, it has been suggested that this is an offer to Barcelona, rather than a pursuit on Barcelona’s part.
🚨 FC Barcelona and Marc-André ter Stegen are in good harmony and agree on a departure for the goalkeeper. Ter Stegen is open to even going abroad. Barça will not put any obstacles for his exit. []
— barcacentre (@barcacentre)
These links come just weeks after rivals Real Madrid were linked with a move for Gvardiol. They too were reportedly offered the chance to sign the Croatia international. It could well be that Gvardiol is assessing his options, with no talk of a contract renewal becoming imminent at City. Both Real Madrid and Barcelona have been linked with a move for a central defender this summer, although it is now thought to be more of a priority for Los Blancos.
Gvardiol has had a rapid rise, making a €36.8m move from Dinamo Zagreb to RB Leipzig in 2021, and in the space of two seasons in the Bundesliga, more than doubling that fee. Manchester City signed Gvardiol for €90m, and in his three seasons, he has been key for Pep Guardiola. During that time, Gvardiol has 13 goals and 10 assists in his 122 appearances. He has also operated regularly at left-back.
