Manchester Citysigning Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic would bring ‘Croatian belief and mentality’ to Pep Guardiola’s side, journalistDean Joneshas told GIVEMESPORT.From their days with the Croatia national team, Jones has mentality, belief and resistance on the big stage will be a rife part of the pair’s respective mindsets and to swoop them both for just over £100m would be brilliant business.
ManchesterCitytransfer news – Mateo Kovacic and Josko Gvardiol
Fabrizio Romanohas confirmed City’s signing of Kovacic using his τɾɑԀєmark ‘here we go!’ phrase as the club will pay a guaranteed fee of £25m, with £5m of possible add-ons.Gvardiol ofRB Leipzigis also of interest to the Spanish tactician andFootball Insiderhave claimed that the Manchester-based club have already held initial talks with the left-footed gem.The promising 21-year-old defєɴԀer has a value of £75m, perTransfermarkt, and would be a shrewd bit of business to serve as City’s long-term defensive option.Italian journalistRudy Galettihas taken to Twitter to suggest that Gvardiol is just as keen as his potential employers for an overseas switch.
What did Dean Jones say aboutManchester Cityand their summer business?
Speaking exclusively to GIVEMESPORT, he said:”City’s move for two Croatians is obviously aimed at raising the levels of the team but more than that I’m told it is about maintaining the mindset of this squad.”We’ve seen from Croatia teams over the years how they have an incredible mentality and belief and resistance on big stages and those traits are engrained in players like Kovacic and Gvardiol. Their technical strengths are clear and obvious, and to get the pair of them at just over £100m would be a steal.”
What would each player bring to Manchester City?
Guardiola has the luxury of not often having to upgrade his players to reach the next level, but instead, it’s more about maintaining the outstanding levels to continue surpassing expectations and who knows, even win the quadruple.Gvardiol has been lauded as the “Haaland of defєɴԀers” purely for his physically able defєɴԀing and his ever-expanding potential. Having attempted 87.18 passes per 90 with an 89% success rate, perFBref,it’s clear to see that he would integrate well into Guardiola’s possession-based ideology.Thesame websiteshows the imposing centre-back is also astute at progressing with the ball as he ranks in the top 1% of his positional peers for carries per 90, boasting an impressive 70.7 while being successful in 82.6% of his attempted take-ons, too.95-capCroatia international Kovacic, however, seems more of a less conventional Ԁєɑł, with Sky Sport’s Dharmesh Shethtelling GIVEMESPORThe thought the signing of the 29-year-old midfield operator was ‘strange’.Guardiola’s reputation of developing players to the upper echelons of performance is evident, though, and should Bernardo Silva or Ilkay Gundogan elect to leave, Kovacic would slot in as a worthy replacement.Kovacic’s per 90 statistics from last season show that his passing ability will make him fit like a glove in Guardiola’s system as the former Real Madrid dynamo is in thetop 8%of midfielders in Europe’s top five leagues for passes attempted.
