Pemain berusia 21 tahun itu menjadi rekrutan kedua di jendela transfer musim panas jelang musim 2023/24, mengikuti jejak sesama pemain internasional Kroasia, Mateo Kovacic.
Seperti Kovacic, Gvardiol memulai karir seniornya di Dinamo Zagreb, tempat berkembang biak bagi beberapa pemain Kroasia paling berbakat yang pernah dihasilkan.
Selama dua musim di tanah airnya, ia memenangkan dua gelar Liga Kroasia, satu Piala Kroasia, dan satu Piala Super Kroasia sebelum pindah ke RB Leipzig di Jerman.
Gvardiol membuat 87 penampilan untuk Red Bulls sepanjang musim 2021/22 dan 2022/23, mencetak lima gol dan memenangkan dua trofi DFB-Pokal.
Dia telah mencatatkan 21 caps untuk Kroasia, finis ketiga di putaran final Piala Dunia 2022 di Qatar.
Gvardiol mengatakan dia senang telah tiba di Premier League dan tidak sabar untuk memulai di bawah bos baru, Pep Guardiola.
“Saya selalu bermimpi suatu hari bermain di Inggris dan melakukannya sekarang dengan Manchester City – setelah musim yang baru saja mereka jalani – adalah kehormatan nyata bagi saya.
“Siapa pun yang melihat Manchester City bermain musim lalu tahu mereka adalah tim terbaik di dunia. Untuk memenangkan Treble mengatakan semua yang perlu Anda ketahui tentang kualitas yang dimiliki tim ini.
“Bergabung dengan City adalah sesuatu yang sangat istimewa bagi saya dan keluarga saya.
“Memiliki kesempatan untuk bekerja dengan Pep Guardiola juga akan luar biasa. Saya tahu saya belum selesai dan saya yakin permainan saya akan berkembang di bawah pelatih terbaik di sepakbola.
“Bergabung dengan Mateo Kovacic juga akan menjadi spesial. Dia adalah pesepakbola top dan saya harap kami berdua dapat membantu City mencapai musim sukses lainnya di 2023/24 dan seterusnya.”
Director of Football Txiki Begiristain menambahkan: “Kami sangat senang bisa membawa Josko ke Manchester City.
“Dia adalah pemain yang telah kami amati dengan cermat, dan kami merasa dia memiliki atribut yang luar biasa.
“Klub-klub top di seluruh Eropa telah memantaunya, jadi membawanya ke sini adalah berita bagus bagi kami.
“Josko memiliki begitu banyak kualitas – semua yang Anda inginkan di bek tengah. Dia cepat, kompetitif, agresif, kuat di udara, mengesankan dalam penguasaan bola, dengan kepercayaan diri yang kuat dan karakter yang baik. Dia juga berkaki kiri, yang memberi kami opsi bagus di belakang.
“Dia masih muda tapi progresnya dalam permainan sangat cepat. Kami merasa yakin lintasan ke atas akan berlanjut di sini di City bekerja dengan Pep dan stafnya.”
Semua orang di Manchester City dengan senang hati menyambut Josko ke klub dan kami semua mendoakan yang terbaik untuknya selama berada di sini.
Wise head, young shoulders
A move to the Premier League presents a new challenge for Josko Gvardiol, but his impressive CV suggests it’s one which will allow one of Europe’s most exciting young defenders to thrive.
City fans will already be well versed in the talent that Pep Guardiola has acquired to bolster an already impressive backline.
The Croatian was part of the RB Leipzig side to lock horns with us in each of the past two seasons, first in the UEFA Champions League Group Stages before, more recently, a two-legged Round of 16 clash.
Many young players have wilted under the pressure of Europe’s elite competition but, for Gvardiol, that intense atmosphere has instead brought the best out of him time and again.
In 2021/22, he put in an assured performance at centre-half to earn a 2-1 win over City, guaranteeing progress into the Europa League knockout stages in the process.
Just over 12 months later, with the defender now an established member of Die Roten Bullen’s squad despite his tender years, Gvardiol once again played a starring role in Saxony, this time powering home a header to earn a 1-1 draw.
The 21-year-old had already proven his threat from set-pieces when he nodded home Leipzig’s opener in a 3-2 win over reigning champions Real Madrid in the group stages, but it wasn’t the goalscoring contribution that really caught the eye against Pep Guardiola’s men.
With a gritty physicality and defensive nous, Gvardiol looked at home among some of the powerhouses of European football.
While Erling Haaland would take centre stage in the reverse fixture, the defender played an important role in keeping the Norwegian quiet in Germany, while his vision and obvious ability with both feet showed he had more than enough quality to create as well as extinguish attacks.
Combine those abilities with an impressive versatility and tactical intelligence which has occasionally seen him operate at both full-back and in a defensive midfield role, and the 21-year-old has already provided the perfect audition to suggest that he has what it takes to flourish at City.
He has looked every inch a player ready to grab the grand occasion by the scruff of the neck, rather than shrink under its significant shadow, exemplified by him playing a starring role in another historic World Cup tournament for his home nation in 2022.
Croatia’s march to the 2018 World Cup final was a truly remarkable feat for a side who had failed to progress beyond the group stages in three decades.
Four years later in Qatar, despite the outstanding quality of captain Luka Modric, new City man Mateo Kovacic and Marcelo Brozovic in midfield, their chances of coming close to emulating that feat would have been considered slim at best by even the most optimistic of supporters.
But Croatia would end up finishing third at the 2022 World Cup, beating tournament favourites Brazil en route to the semis, when they were beaten by eventual winners, Argentina.
And while the creativity, quality and experience of Modric, Kovacic and Brozovic played a significant part in that success, the organisation of the Croatian backline provided a platform for those leading lights to flourish.
Still just 20 years old, Gvardiol was an ever-present at the heart of defence, earning a deserved inclusion in a plethora of ‘team of the tournament’ squads from hugely respected media outlets.
He finished the tournament with 11 interceptions and won possession 48 times for his nation, both the best figures for a defender at the 2022 World Cup and was also a central figure for RB Leipzig in his second full season at the club as they finished third in the German Bundesliga.
Only champions Bayern Munich and fourth-placed Union Berlin ended the campaign with a better defensive record than Die Roten Bullen, while Gvardiol was the only RB Leipzig player to be included in the VDV Bundesliga Team of the Season – voted for by his fellow professionals.
His pass accuracy of 91.1% was the eighth best return in the entire German top-flight, with only centre-back partner Willi Orban able to better that tally among his team-mates.
A physically imposing figure who also possesses the technical subtlety which is demanded of any defender playing in a possession-based system – he’s every inch a player of the Guardiola mould.
Despite only making his senior professional debut in 2019 for Dinamo Zagreb, Gvardiol has consistently stamped his authority on any stage he’s had the opportunity to do so.
He did it in Qatar, he’s done it in Leipzig, now it’s time for him to repeat the trick in Manchester.
Season by Season stats
2019/20: Dinamo Zagreb
Played: 15
Goals: 1
Assists: 1
2020/21: Dinamo Zagreb
Played: 41
Goals: 3
Assists: 3
2021/22: RB Leipzig
Played: 46
Goals: 2
Assists: 3
2022/23: RB Leipzig
Played: 41
Goals: 3
