Mateo Kovacic has shared exactly why he – and many other opposition players – hated playing against Manchester City.
Following the departures of Ilkay Gundogan and Riyad Mahrez, City face a significant reshuffle in the attacking department ahead of the new season.
The treble winners wasted no time in bringing in a replacement for Gundogan, signing Croatian midfielder Kovacic from Chelsea for £25m.
The 29-year-old brings a wealth of experience to Pep Guardiola’s squad, having won four Champions Leagues while representing Real Madrid and Chelsea.
Kovacic hated playing against City
However, despite his quality and experience, there is one thing Kovacic has never enjoyed: playing against City.
Luckily for him he’ll no longer have to do that, but his experiences of facing City give an insight into why opponents tend to struggle against Guardiola’s side.
“City were always very tough, and never made it easy for us and now to be there as a City player will be amazing,” Kovacic told the club’s official magazine.
“I have experienced myself playing against City on several occasions, and it was always so tough because of the amazing, quality players they had.
“City are so well organised, they just keep the pressure on you all the time so it’s really tough to play against them.
“I’m now looking forward to being on that side and trying to do the same against other sides as they did against the teams I was in for the last years.
“I can’t wait to play my first match at the Etihad, but now I need to do it step by step as we prepare ourselves for a great start to the season.”
While he never enjoyed playing against City, Kovacic could always imagine himself calling the Etihad Stadium home.
“I’m very excited. I loved to play there [at the Etihad Stadium] as an away player because the stadium is nice, the pitch is amazing.”
