Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol (22 years old) has struggled to find his place in the English and European champions, but has been gaining confidence, largely due to the goals he has been scoring to help the Cityzens in this crucial phase of the season. The defender arrived in Manchester from German side RB Leipzig in August, signing a five-year contract for €90 million.
The Croatian international, who hadn’t scored in the previous 32 games for City, has now scored five goals in the last seven games to aid his team in the fight for a possible fourth consecutive Premier League title.
“There’s an aspect in football and life which is confidence, the confidence when you do things. It’s about playing time, many games, and talking about the good and less good things that you do,” Guardiola told reporters after Saturday’s 4-0 thrashing of Fulham.
“And let’s not forget it’s his first season in the Premier League… so it’s not easy to handle, and he had some difficulties at the beginning because he arrived in a team that had just won the treble and he was a bit shy. He signed for many, many years and he has proven to himself that he is capable of doing it and playing with us,” he explained.
Guardiola gave his players three days off after the 5-1 home victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers earlier this month.
“On the first day, he (Gvardiol) went to the training center for recovery, so his focus is football and he wants to get better and better, and when that happens, we have something special on our hands,” said the Spaniard.
City, sitting second with 85 points and one behind Arsenal, who have played a game more, travel to face fifth-placed Tottenham on Tuesday.