Josko Gvardiol’s journey from a teenager tempted to quit football to a £77m Manchester City mainstay reads like a blockbuster script — and it nearly never happened.
From doubt to destiny
At 16, frustrated and short of minutes in Dinamo Zagreb’s youth ranks, Gvardiol seriously considered walking away from his "dream" and chasing the basketball games his friends loved. He wasn’t enjoying training, he felt out of tune with the game, and for a moment the future looked uncertain. Instead he waited, fought his way into the first team and left Croatia with a league-and-cup double and a record £16m move to RB Leipzig.
Meteoric rise in Germany and the big-money leap
Two standout seasons in the Bundesliga — 87 appearances of composed, brutal defending and offensive threat — made City open their chequebook. In August 2023 Gvardiol joined Manchester City for £77m, becoming the second-most expensive defender ever, a price tag that now seems earned rather than audacious.
A new kind of defender at the Etihad
Gone are the days of sitting on the bench. Gvardiol has become a Guardiola regular, racking up more than 6,000 minutes last season, appearing in 55 of City’s 61 matches and missing only 140 Premier League minutes. He’s not just stopping attacks; he’s scoring goals, making long passes and slotting seamlessly between left-back and left-sided centre-back. No defender in the Premier League has matched his goal tally since his arrival.
Style, resilience and coachable brilliance
Pep Guardiola praises Gvardiol’s physical gifts and mentality: a young player who listens, learns and wants to improve. Even while battling a knee issue last summer, Gvardiol’s mindset was simple; play, compete and help the team. That attitude fuelled his comeback and helped stabilize a City backline that struggled through a rare trophyless season.
Now and next
Back in his preferred left-center role, Gvardiol is part of a renewed City side that has steadied after an early wobble. He talks in practical terms — play simple, protect the goal — while quietly shouldering sky-high ambitions.
If the trajectory continues, the former near-quit teenager could finish the season as one of world football’s defining defensive forces.
