Before turning professional, midfielder Josko Gvardiol – who just moved to Man City this summer – considered selling fish at the market with his father.

According to the August 24 issue of Four Four Two, as a teenager, Gvardiol struggled to get into the Dinamo Zagreb youth team. At that time, he once considered taking a break from football to sell fish at the Dolac market, in the Croatian capital, with his father.

However, Guardiola decided to continue his career after a family friend drew him a mental map titled “success”, with the words “discipline”, “top club” and “doing” hard work” included.

When Gvardiol joined the Dinamo Zagreb youth team, everything changed. He shows great potential and is highly appreciated by experts. “If Guardiola doesn’t start for Croatia by the age of 20, someone will go to jail for that,” said Dinamo Zagreb youth team coach Dalibor Poldrugac in 2019.

In 2021, Gvardiol started playing for Croatia. He participated in Euro 2021 and won a bronze medal at the 2022 World Cup. At Euro 2021, at the age of 19 years, four months, and 21 days, he became the youngest player to play for Croatia in the final round of a major tournament. After more than two years, the 21-year-old midfielder has played 21 international matches and scored twice.

Gvardiol’s club career also had spectacular advancements. After leaving Dinamo Zagreb in 2021, the Croatian star played 88 games in just two years for RB Leipzig and won two German Cups. This summer, he became the most expensive defender in the world when he joined Man City for $ 98 million, breaking the old record of 97 million set by Harry Maguire in 2019.

With Man City, Guardiola also started well. He and the new team won the European Super Cup in a 5-4 victory over Sevilla on penalties, before starting the match against Newcastle 1-0. On August 27, he is likely to continue to start in the match against Sheffield United.

Besides his ability to defend, Gvardiol also has a high scoring rate as a defender: 11 goals in 168 games. In 2022, he scored his first Champions League goal in the match RB Leipzig beat Real Madrid 3-2, causing the Spanish team to receive their first defeat of the season.

In February 2023, he continued to score in a 1-1 draw with Man City. At the age of 21 years and 30 days, Guardiola became the youngest Croatian player to score in the knockout stages of the Champions League. In the 2022 World Cup bronze medal match, it was Gvardiol who opened the scoring and helped Croatia beat Morocco 2-1.