Gvardiol nearly quit football for basketball before £77m move to Man City

Josko Gvardiol’s £77m transfer from RB Leipzig to Manchester City in August 2023 made him the second most-expensive defender ever, but he had previously considered walking away from the sport to pursue a career in basketball. 

The 23-year-old Croatia international has revealed that he nearly walked away from the sport while with Dinamo Zagreb.

At 16, with limited playing time in Zagreb’s youth team, Gvardiol considered other paths — particularly basketball — as a way to find happiness outside football.

Gvardiol persevered, eventually breaking into Dinamo's senior side, winning consecutive league titles and finishing with a Croatian double before moving to Leipzig for £16m, a record fee for a Croatian teenager.

“I was thinking about quitting because I like basketball as well,” the centre-back told BBC Sport.

“I wasn’t sure about football any more because when you get to the training ground you don’t feel happy any more, you know?

“I was just trying to find other solutions and to feel happier than I felt before because all of my friends were playing basketball.”

After impressing in Germany over 87 appearances, he joined Manchester City on a five-year deal in 2023. Only Harry Maguire has commanded a higher transfer fee for a defender, moving to Manchester United from Leicester City for £80m in 2019.

“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.”

Gvardiol has quickly become a crucial part of Pep Guardiola’s system at Manchester City, with no other defender in the Premier League scoring more goals since his arrival (nine).

“In my head last season I was like, 'no matter what, how I feel, no matter if I am fit or not, I just want to play. I just want to compete to help the team,'” Gvardiol said.

Last season, Gvardiol appeared in 55 of City’s 61 matches and missed just 140 Premier League minutes. 

Guardiola recently highlighted the defender’s importance, saying: “We cannot forget last season he was one of the most important players, in terms of how he played and played and played.

"He’s so young, physically he is outstanding, can play in two roles perfectly. He’s incredible, coachable, listens a lot, wants to improve and that will help him to be a better player.”