Man City's next summer signing could prove their new place among Europe's elite teams

Pep Guardiola's Manchester City are sitting pretty at the top of Europe.

A Champions League trophy is in the cabinet at the Etihad alongside the Premier League and FA Cup silverware after a historic season that culminated in the club claiming the Treble. The team boasts the best centre-forward in the world in Erling Haaland while the talents of Jack Grealish, midfield supremo Kevin De Bruyne and the always-solid Ruben Dias, among others, have formed a spine that's the envy of all of City's rivals.

And yet, despite already boasting such an impressive group of players, Guardiola plans to push on during the summer transfer window. Mateo Kovacic has arrived to replace departed captain Ilkay Gundogan following his move to Barcelona - but City's next signing will surely be the statement of the summer.

RB Leipzig's sporting director, Max Eberl, confirmed at the weekend that the club is in negotiations for Croatian centre-back Josko Gvardiol. "Gvardiol and his agents gave us their desire to move to Manchester City," Eberl said. "We are in talks with City. Yes, for €100 million (£86million) plus bonuses, Gvardiol will end up in Pep’s strong hands. The value of the deal would make Gvardiol the most expensive defender in history, but it might take a few more days."

READ MORE: City focus on Josko Gvardiol as they get double transfer boost

The move would represent a world-record fee for a defender, eclipsing the £80million rivals Manchester United paid Leicester City for Harry Maguire in 2019. That in itself is a huge statement from City, but when you factor in the fact he is probably the top defender available on the market this summer and that that the 21-year-old is destined to be among the world's best in the position for the