He is a cornerstone of Manchester City’s defence, but their record defensive signing has revealed he was close to choosing a different sporting career path.
Josko Gvardiol is a regular first-team starter under Pep Guardiola, but the 23-year-old says he almost quit the sport as a teenager to pursue his love of basketball.
The crossroads in his career came when he was just 16 and struggling to get game time in the youth setup at Dinamo Zagreb.
And with basketball his favourite sport – European, not American – coupled with all of his friends playing it, Gvardiol thought long and hard about his future and what would make him ‘feel happier’.
Speaking to BBC Sport, he said: ‘I was thinking about quitting because I like basketball as well.
‘I wasn’t sure in football any more because when you get to the training ground you don’t feel happy any more, you know?
One of Manchester City’s stars has revealed they almost quit football for basketball as a teen
The player in question is Josko Gvardiol who came close to swapping sports when he was 16
Gvardiol, pictured in 2020, was struggling coming through the ranks at Dinamo Zagreb
‘I was just trying to find other solutions and to feel happier than I felt before because all of my friends were playing basketball.’
Gvardiol chose football and eventually broke into Dinamo’s first-team – winning back-to-back league titles before joining RB Leipzig in a £16m deal in 2021.
After two impressive seasons in Germany, he joined Manchester City in a £77m transfer in August 2023 to make him the second-most expensive defender of all time.
And despite his rise, the Croatian international still can’t believe how far he has come.
‘My dream obviously was to become a professional football player, but I didn’t know that I was going to go that far,’ Gvardiol added.
‘If you go five years back and ask me, do you see yourself at Manchester City in 2023, ’24, ’25? I would say no chance, like really impossible.’
Gvardiola has made seven appearances in all competitions for City so far – helping them keep a clean sheet most recently in their 2-0 Champions League win at Villarreal.
He will look to repeat that shutout on Sunday afternoon when they travel to Aston Villa in the Premier League.
Premier LeagueManchester City
