Croatia’s loss could be Manchester City’s gain heading into the 24/25 season | OneFootball

With the group stage of Euro 24 now complete Manchester City will have a host of players in action in the knockout stages of the tournament. But two City players who won’t be involved in the remainder of the tournament will be Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol. Croatia were surprisingly eliminated in the group stage of the tournament. But Croatia’s loss could be Manchester City’s gain heading into the 24/25 season.

It was a surprise to see Croatia eliminated so early at Euro 24. They finished third at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and it was expected that they’d go deep into this summer’s European Championships. But it wasn’t to be for the Croatians. Two draws and a defeat in their Group B games were enough to see them eliminated from the tournament early. While it was a disappointment for Croatia and Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol respectively it is a positive for Manchester City as they prepare for next season.

Kovacic and Gvardiol could feature during Manchester City’s pre-season.

The world champions begin preparations for the 24/25 season next month. There will be many of City’s key players unavailable for the start of pre-season due to international commitments. But players such as Erling Haaland, Oscar Bobb and Jack Grealish will be available from the start of City’s pre-season. It now appears that Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol could join them. While they will have time off after their international duties with Croatia there is now a chance that they could almost get a full pre-season in. They will almost certainly now tour the United States for City’s tour of America.

The champions do appear that they will have a disjointed start to next season. With so many players not available for pre-season it may present a problem to Pep Guardiola. But the possible inclusion of Kovacic and Gvardiol is a bonus for the City manager. The more first-team players that can feature in pre-season is a positive for the champions.

Croatia’s loss appears to be Manchester City’s gain for next season. Gvardiol and Kovacic look set to get a full pre-season in. That is positive news for the champions with the 24/25 season only a couple of months away.