Intimidating and sophisticated – why Man City have the perfect defender in Josko Gvardiol

With a deal imminent between Manchester City and RB Leipzig, Pep Guardiola might have the perfect defender in his arsenal.

Many have wondered how Manchester City can improve their team after winning the treble last season. On their way to the best season in club history, City harried Arsenal and mauled Manchester United in La Liga, beat Real Madrid and trumped Inter Milan in the Champions League final.

Improving such a team seemed almost impossible, and it takes cross-generational talent. Josko Gvardiol is like that. The Croatian is almost 1.80m tall, built like an ox, fast like a sprinter and like everyone else in the sport has the composure and ability to read the game.

In addition, he is majestic with the ball at his feet and is left-handed. If you asked the computer to build a perfect center half, Gvardiol would appear.

And City appear ready to finally have their man after agreeing a deal with RB Leipzig worth just €90million (£77.5million). The 21-year-old is expected to travel to Manchester with medical tests and a condition to be confirmed, although it is unclear if he will be available for Sunday’s Community Shield game against Arsenal.

Questions have been raised as to whether Manchester City really need him given the depth they have in the job.

With Kyle Walker’s potential departure to Bayern Munich and Aymeric Laporte’s days numbered, it was obvious. Without them or a replacement like Gvardiol, the Blues would have a significant defensive gap, something Pep appreciates in his success.

Gvardiol is also left-footed and has previously played at left-back. Pep likes to play as a central defender from time to time and the Croatian is perfect for that. Ball development is another aspect of Gvardiola’s ability that makes Pep and Manchester City irresistible.

Leipzig is a very possession oriented side (58% possession last season in the Bundesliga) which should ease the transition to City. His passing accuracy in the league last season was 89%, winning 74% of his tackles and making no mistakes on goal.

Gvardiol is one of those types of players who are always on the lookout for passes that go over the line, but it can take time to get used to the faster pace of play in the Premier League.

Gvardiol also isn’t shy to pick out his striker whenever the chance arises. Time and time again in the Bundesliga last season, the centre half has picked out numerous runs being made by Timo Werner. Except for City, he will be picking out Erling Haaland, since the opposition are almost always pinned back, something that only Kevin de Bruyne has managed to do consistently.

The 21-year-old is also comfortable picking out passes with his right foot which makes him even more dangerous and will be closed down immediately by the opposition and therefore opening up other avenues.

Gvardiol isn’t new to winning either. He has already won the DFB-Pokal twice with RB Leipzig in 2022 and 2023, and has won the Croatian league with Dinamo Zagreb in 2020 and 2021. This will become a factor as City are expected to challenge on all fronts once again this season.

It definitely seems like only a matter of time before Joska Gvardiol becomes a Manchester City player. He will be joining his countryman Mateo Kovacic and will be hoping to lead Manchester City to more glory this season.