Report: Not even an £88m Man City offer could lure ‘special’ Liverpool target to Anfield

Manchester City want Josko Gvardiol but their hopes of signing the RB Leipzig defender appear to have been severely dented.

Manchester City are understood to be keen admirers of the Croatia international, and view the Leipzig man as a potential successor to Aymeric Laporte – who could leave the Etihad Stadium this summer in pursuit of increased game time.

Pep Guardiola himself had a personal conversation with the player after Manchester City’s recent Champions League meeting with RB Leipzig, as the Premier League side cruised to an 8-1 aggregate victory in the last-16 of the competition.

Despite the admiration from Manchester City officials as well as head coach Pep Guardiola, interest in the player could be a non-starter as the summer transfer window approaches, with a strong stance taken from the side of Leipzig.

Sky Germany’s Florian Plettenberg reports that Leipzig are completely reluctant to striking a summer deal.

Plettenberg claims that even an offer of €100million (£88million) wouldn’t tempt Leipzig into a sale.

Plettenberg notes that Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool all want Gvardiol but Leipzig aren’t even considering an exit.

Hailed as ‘special’ by pundit Pat Nevin, Gvardiol looks set to become a superstar and you can understand so much interest.

Leipzig are proving a tough nut to crack though and will be reluctant to lose key players with Konrad Laimer and Christopher Nkunku already leaving.

Whether City were even willing to pay £88million is unclear given their need to sign midfielders, but they can seemingly cross Gvardiol off their summer wish list.