Manchester City’s choice is ‘WC star, not Kim’… Kim Min-jae’s ransom ‘double’ → Recruited after leaving Laporte

Manchester City is planning to aim for a player other than Kim Min-jae as a replacement for Americ Laporte.

British media Daily Mail reported on the 19th (Korean time) that “Man City are looking at Yossoko Gbardiol as a replacement for Laporte.”안전놀이터

Manchester City is raising the possibility that players who have been key resources for the team will leave the team after this season. Along with team captains Ilkay Gundogan and Bernardo Silva, Laporte, who was a key defender, is also likely to leave.

If Laporte leaves, Manchester City can use Huben Dias, John Stones, and Manuel Akanji as center backs in the current squad. Because of this shortage, it is essential to recruit a defender.

Originally, there was also a report in the British media that Man City could aim for Kim Min-jae after Laporte’s departure. British and Italian local media even reported that manager Pep Guardiola is considering Kim Min-jae as an alternative to Laporte.

In the midst of this, news spread that Man City could aim for Gbardiol, not Kim Min-jae, and the possibility of leaving the Kim Min-jae recruitment match increased.

The Daily Mail said, “Gbardiol has been included in Manchester City’s target to reorganize their defense ahead of next season. Manchester City have said they will not interfere if Laporte wants to move. It is a subject of interest to City in case it is reinforced.”

“Leipzig currently set a asking price of 85 million pounds (about 140.9 billion won) for the approval of Gvardiol’s transfer. Leipzig has been told that due to financial conditions, they may have to sell him this summer.” He said, “If only the high transfer fee is paid, the transfer of Gbardiol can be accomplished.”

Since the 2021/22 season, Gbardiol has already been attracting attention as a next-generation center back prospect by improving his skills in Leipzig, and starting from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, great reviews were poured out and his ransom soared. He was considered a key player in Croatia’s semi-final progress at the time.

In addition to Man City, Real Madrid and PSG have already shown interest in him, and fierce competition for the next top-notch center back has been predicted.

Meanwhile, if Man City tries to recruit Gbardiol, it is expected that they will have to invest more than twice the amount required to recruit Kim Min-jae.

Kim Min-jae can be recruited at around £50 million (approximately KRW 82.9 billion) with a buyout clause that will be triggered after this season, but Gvardiol will spend even more than £85 million set by Leipzig if competition intensifies. It looks like it should.

Attention is focusing on whether Man City, which has shown interest in signing Gvardiol, will give up the recruitment of Kim Min-jae and complete the defense reinforcement only with Gbardiol, or whether it will recruit Kim Min-jae to build the best defense in Europe.