Man City ‘on the brink’ of landmark signing as Wolves line up £50m transfer fund boost

Never one to ignore a statistic, Pep Guardiola will have been fully aware that Manchester City were incredibly lucky to win the Champions League final without a Croatian player. The past 10 winners all had a Croat in the ranks – Chelsea in 2012 were the last team to make do without – and to make sure that City aren’t begging for another miracle, the folically-challenged Catalan coach is keen to start the season with at least two players who spend their international breaks in red-and-white checks.

With Mateo Kovačić already signed and sealed, that simply leaves the small matter of spending £86m on Joško Gvardiol, the 21-year-old RB Leipzig centre-back whose World Cup performances made him one of the most in-demand defenders on the planet. The fee would make the bearded young ball-playing back the most expensive defender in the history of the game.

The Telegraph reckon that City are “on the brink” of finalising the signing already, with negotiations set to be concluded “in the coming days”. No word yet on the kind of contract Gvardiol can expect to be signing, but it will probably be enough to stave off the necessity of becoming a Roy Kent impersonator as a side hustle. May still be available for birthday parties if you ask nicely.

The 3AM Verdict: Gvardiol was a regular in the 3 Added Minutes Wonderkid Power Rankings until he endured something of a slide in form towards the end of the season, but there’s still no doubting his immense talent or his inherent Guardiola-ish-ness. He’s incredibly comfortable with the ball at his feet, likes to bring the ball out of defence, and should have John Stones quaking in his versatile boots. And hey, it’s not like City need to worry about the cash, is it? It’s worth noting that the BBC’s Mike Minay has responded to the Telegraph’s report by saying that City haven’t even made a bid yet – so usual pinches of salt, please.

Collins and Kilman’s cash injection

From back four buys to defensive departures as we take a trip to the Black Country and find out how Wolves are getting on with their desperate scramble to keep themselves in line with FFP requirements. Having already been the beneficiaries of Saudi munificence in moving Rúben Neves on, they are now in line to benefit from the fiduciary might of two more of football’s financial powerhouses – Napoli and Brentford.

Napoli are, according to The Athletic, on the lookout for a replacement for Kim Min-Jae and have identified a €35m target – Max Kilman. And Wolves have turned that amount down, apparently. Accurately valuing a football player is basically just faintly informed guesswork, of course, but that does feel a little bit like refusing a million-dollar offer for a two-bed terraced house in Walsall based solely on sentimental value.

But Wolves have accepted a bid for Nathan Collins, who arrived for £20m last summer but will now likely be off for £23m as Brentford make a club-record bid for the 22-year-old Irishman. Sky Sports reckon the defender will have his medical in the next few days.

The 3AM Verdict: Kilman is a perfectly decent player, of course, but €35m is more than anyone would expect him to go for and rejecting such a bid seems utterly baffling given how badly they need to flog a few players. One assumes that the player isn’t too chuffed either – no disrespect to Wolverhampton or its team, you understand, but a chance to challenge for the Serie A title in one of Europe’s greatest and most sun-drenched food capitals surely beats living within 15 miles of Dudley. As for the Collins deal – well, Wolves need cash, so turning a small profit on a slightly extravagant signing probably makes for good business all round, including for Brentford.

Spurs struggling to land surprise swoop

For our last nugget of transfer news today, let’s head to the land of the eternal optimists – Tottenham – where Spurs are setting new records for windmill-tilting by trying to usurp Barcelona’s all-but-sorted signing of Brazilian teenager Vitor Roque.

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The 18-year-old Athletico Paranaense striker – who made his senior international debut in the 2-1 defeat to Morocco back in March – is but a few dotted Is and crossed Ts away from a move to Catalonia worth up to €45m, but apparently Ange Postecoglou has been on the blower in a last-ditch attempt to persuade the wonderkid to have a change of heart. Again, the joint power of internationally-renowned cuisine and near-endless sunshine are likely to play a part in Roque’s decision-making process and Sport Witness reckon that Spurs don’t “stand a chance” of sealing an eleventh-hour swoop.

The 3AM Verdict: Roque is a massive talent but it feels unlikely that they’ll get a great reference from his international team-mate Richarlison at this point and it’s hard to imagine they have too many USPs which make them a more attractive destination than Barcelona. As it stands the attempt to muscle in on proceedings sits somewhere between ‘audacious’ and ‘absurd’. I guess it shows intent, or something.