Manchester City has made Croatian player Josko Gvardiol the most expensive centre-back in…
English Manchester City made Croatian player Josko Gvardiol the most expensive central defender in the history of football, when the “Citizens” paid a huge sum to include him from German Leipzig in August 2023.
Due to changing his position from center back to left back, and his lack of experience and adaptation to the English Premier League, Gvardiol, 22 years old, initially paid a heavy price, but after 9 months, coach Pep Guardiola succeeded in transforming the “confused and lost” international defender into a defense and scoring machine. Goals.
Guardiola said that Gvardiol had difficulties adapting, but his confidence is now growing after his scoring contribution in the midst of the title race.
“There was such an uncertain period that it wasn’t really good,” Guardiola said of the Croatian defender’s unstable start.
The Spaniard added in statements reported by the Spanish newspaper Marca, “When he arrived, I was confused. His adaptation to the team and the English Premier League was slow. At some moments, he was confused. He lost a lot of balls.” “Every time he had the ball he wanted to do exceptional things.”
Gvardiol…the goal-scoring machine
Once he adapted to the Premier League atmosphere and his new position, Gvardiol became Manchester City’s offensive secret weapon under the leadership of Pep Guardiola, scoring 5 goals in the last 7 matches.
“He doesn’t have to lose balls,” Guardiola said. “The most important thing for defenders is to be safe.” “Playing is simply the hardest thing in life.”
The former Barcelona coach continued, “If he scores goals, he will be very welcome, but that is not his job. His job is to defend and play safely.”
The 22-year-old left-back joined City under a 5-year contract, for an amount that was reported to be approximately 90 million euros.
The Croatian international player, who had not scored in 32 previous matches with City, scored 5 goals in the last 7 matches, helping his team in the race to achieve its fourth consecutive title, which is an unprecedented record.
“There is an aspect in football and in life, which is confidence,” Guardiola told reporters after the 4-0 win over Fulham last Saturday. We cannot forget that this is his first season in the English Premier League, so it is not easy to deal with the situation and he struggled a little at first, because he joined a team that had just won three and was a bit shy.”
City, which is in second place in the league with 85 points, one point behind Arsenal, which has played a match more, will visit Tottenham Hotspur, which is in fifth place, tomorrow, Tuesday.
