Sky Sports Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg has poured cold water on claims that RB Leipzig defender Josko Gvardiol is set to leave the Bundesliga club.

Foot Mercato journalist Santi Aouna has reported that Manchester City have offered in excess of €100m (£86m) for the Croatian, exceeding bids made by Chelsea and Manchester United. He also suggested that Bayern Munich will hold talks about a possible transfer. However, Plettenberg not only denied Bayern’s interest but even went as far as to say that Gvardiol may stay with Leipzig “beyond” the end of the season:

News #Gvardiol: 👎🏼 Been told again: No contact, no meeting scheduled. At this stage Gvardiol will stay in Leipzig beyond summer 2023! Gvardiol has no release clause after this season. Bayern is focused on other things right now. @SkySportDE 🇭🇷 https://t.co/4aHDmGUxJM

— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) December 11, 2022

At the moment, it is very much one person’s word against another. Aouna has been correct with specific transfer stories in the past but Plettenberg is believed to be more reliable.

City are definitely interested in Gvardiol, with Fabrizio Romano having linked the player with the Premier League champions in recent months but, if they were to go after the 20-year-old, a centre-back would need to be offloaded first.