“You could tell he was going to be special” – Manchester City defender receives special praise for development from now-MLS star | OneFootball

Josko Gvardiol has been the subject of special praise from one of the MLS’ finest attacking stars who had developed alongside the Croatian at RB Leipzig in his career.

The versatile central defender, who has operated predominantly as a left-sided full-back for Manchester City since arriving from Germany in 2023, has been a huge success under Pep Guardiola to date, largely making the left-back position his own in that time.

Manchester City had originally moved swiftly to ensure that Gvardiol would become an Etihad Stadium star, with the player understood to have been attracting a growing interest from the likes of Bayern Munich and Real Madrid at the time.

But the Premier League champions’ belief in his talents did not come without an exceptionally high level of investment, with the final financial package for Josko Gvardiol understood to have been €90 million.

Whilst City were the successful suitor in the chase for the former Dinamo Zagreb starlet, his talents have been prevalent for several years and one of his former teammates has now spoken out on his experiences coming up against the defender.

Speaking during a recent interview with RG, CF Montreal attacking midfielder Caden Clark reflected on his time working alongside the now-City superstar Josko Gvardiol during the period together at RB Leipzig from 2021.

“Going up against (Josko) Gvardiol was tough. He’s very fast, athletic, strong, and really good on the ball,” Clark admitted.

He continued, “I’d get the ball and he’d shut down space very quickly… You’d have to be very quick on your feet. You could tell he was going to be special.”

Gvardiol has continued his rise within Pep Guardiola’s plans this season by holding down the left-back role ahead of Nathan Ake for the large majority of the campaign, whilst also building on his reputation of being a threat in front of goal.

Tied on four goals with Phil Foden across all competitions so far this season, Josko Gvardiol is Manchester City’s joint-second top-scorer this campaign behind only Erling Haaland at the top of the club’s rankings.