Man City are reportedly set to wrap up a deal worth £80m for Leicester City defender Harry Maguire this week, with Man Utd tipped to miss out and suffer a transfer blow.
As noted by talkSPORT, Virgil van Dijk remains the most expensive defender of all time currently following his £75m move from Southampton to join Liverpool last year.
SEE MORE: Manchester City step up efforts to seal transfer of star cleared to leave for £76million
While that figure raised eyebrows at the time, the Dutchman’s influence at Anfield has arguably made it look like a brilliant signing now regardless of how much the Merseyside giants splashed out.
Man City will seemingly be hoping for the same this summer, as The Mirror report that they’re expected to seal the signing of Maguire for £80m this week, which will set a new transfer record for a defender and give them an ideal option to fill the void left behind by former defensive stalwart Vincent Kompany.
It’s noted that Man Utd were also interested in the England international, but City’s contract offer worth £280,000-a-week ultimately fended them off as Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will now seemingly need to look elsewhere to bolster his backline.
As for City and Guardiola, it’s a sensible signing for many reasons as the 26-year-old has plenty of experience in the Premier League and at international level now, has shown his ability to not only defend but also to build out from the back to suit Guardiola’s style of play while also offering a goalscoring threat on set-pieces.
In turn, he ticks many of the same boxes that Kompany did, and so the reigning Premier League champions will be keen to bring in a like-for-like replacement to address one key issue in the squad.
The report adds that Man City are continuing their impressive planning and work in the transfer market by swooping for Atletico Madrid midfielder Rodri this summer too, offering a long-term replacement for veteran Fernandinho as Guardiola continues to build a squad with a long-term vision in mind.
