Josko Gvardiol is about to get into his second season at Manchester City.
After arriving at the Etihad Stadium last summer from RB Leipzig in a deal worth £77m, the defender went on to make 42 appearances for City across all competitions.
Ahead of Saturday’s Community Shield clash against Manchester United and then the opening Premier League game of the season against Chelsea, the 22-year-old has shared some details on another player in Pep Guardiola’s side who is also about to enter his second campaign at City.
Josko Gvardiol praises Mateo Kovacic for what he does on and off the pitch
Gvardiol was highly complimentary in a recent edition of the official Man City Podcast (via Man City) about his fellow club and country teammate Mateo Kovacic, saying this about what he does on and off the pitch.
He said: “I always like to compare the time I signed for Leipzig and last season with you guys In Leipzig, I was alone, I didn’t have anyone to speak with, especially in Croatian and I don’t speak German so it was difficult for me.
“I had Mateo with me and I would say he’s like my father, he’s always there for me and he takes me everywhere.
“Everywhere they go, he just says comes with us because I live alone, I’m single and my parents live in Croatia but they come often.
“But a lot of the time I’m alone here and he’s the one who always likes to call me, to invite me for lunch or dinner or whatever. It’s a different story to the one I had in Leipzig.
“Sometimes, even with the qualities that you have, you don’t get that much attention. Me, as his friend, and obviously all the other guys know his qualities.
“You saw it in the game against Barcelona. That’s exactly what he does the best, he’s really strong on the ball and it’s so difficult to take the ball away from him.
“He shouldn’t be worried about being under the radar, he knows his qualities. He’s 30 already, he looks young and I believe he thinks he looks young as well and he’s got many things to do. And hopefully, he’s going to show the class he has and how good he is, he has already.
“I can talk about his qualities, but more as a person and I’m really happy to have him next to me.
“He’s a funny guy. He’s funny for me because I get the jokes but some of the other guys don’t understand it.”
Kovacic has shown his importance for City
Just like Gvardiol, City signed Kovacic last summer from Chelsea in a deal worth £30m.
Across his debut campaign at the Manchester club, the midfielder appeared in 46 games in total, chipping in with three goals and one assist.
Back in May, Kovacic shared his praise for Gvardiol by describing him as an “unbelievable” player.
Now that the defender has highlighted how happy he’s been to have his fellow Croatian with him on and off the pitch, this shows how useful the former Chelsea man has been for City as part of the squad.
