Guardiola builds €500m defence as Man City target another signing

Robin Bairner

• Updated: 8 Aug 2025 12:40 BST
• 4 min read

News

Manchester City are still active in the transfer market, with the Premier League giants’ spending of defenders set to rise to €500 million if they land their latest target.

Coming off the back of a disappointing campaign in which they struggled to qualify for the Champions League and made a poor defence of their Premier League title, City have spent lavishly in the transfer market.

Over €175m has been spent by Guardiola’s side on new arrivals. The headline signings have been Tijjani Reijnders, Rayan Ait-Nouri and Rayan Cherki while James Trafford and Sverre Nypan are other notable arrivals.

After breaking the bank in January to add more than €200m of signings to Guardiola’s ranks. City are ready to get the chequebook out again.

Current ETV

Castello Lukeba

D (CL)

RB Leipzig

Castello Lukeba

D (CL)

RB Leipzig

€45M

ETV Range

€40.5M - €49.5M

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RB Leipzig centre-back Castello Lukeba is the latest player targeted by the Etihad club, according to Rudy Galetti.

City have begun making enquiries to the Bundesliga side, who are unlikely to be willing sellers. With Benjamin Sesko and Xavi Simons both liable to leave Leipzig in the coming days, the German club can ill-afford to lose another marquee player.

Lukeba does have a buy-out fee set at €90m, offering City the opportunity to snap up the 22-year-old without any lengthy negotiations.

The astonishing cost of City’s defenders

Should Guardiola sign Lukeba, it will bring the total cost of City’s defenders to close to €500m.

The Cityzens have been happy to splash out to strengthen their rearguard in the past, with Josko Gvardiola and Ruben Dias signed for €90m and €72m respectively. Joao Cancelo and Aymeric Laporte, who have now left the club, also make the list of Man City’s most expensive players ever.

It is doubtful that City will push as high as €90m for Lukeba. The former Lyon star only has an Estimated Transfer Value (ETV) of €45m, with his peak coming out at a little above €60m.

City have a strong track record of signing around the ETV of players, suggesting they know when to spend big and when to hold off. Their interest in Lukeba, though, shows that Guardiola is not necessarily finished his summer spending yet.

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