Manchester City defender Josko Guardiola has credited his Etihad Stadium status football to the help of his brother Mateo Kovacic. But he would rather give credit to his father.
Both are Croatian internationals who moved to join the ‘Sky Blues’ in the same market in the summer of 2023. Guardiola is from a different league because he used to play for RB Leipzig in the German Bundesliga. While Kovacic is from Chelsea, so he is already familiar with English football. UFABET
The role of mentor therefore fell to the midfielder who acted as a leader. And he took good care of his younger brother until he became a mainstay in the middle of the season.
As a grateful child, Yochok praised his seniors on the club’s podcast.
“I often compare the time I signed for Leipzig with the time I ended up at City.” the 22-year-old defender said.
“In Germany, I was a complete stranger. I had no one to communicate with, especially in Croatian. At that time, I could not speak German. So it was a difficult time for me.”
“But at City, I have Mateo. I want to call him like a father because he is always by my side, taking me everywhere.”
“Everywhere he went with his family. He always invited me because he knew I lived alone. I was still single, my family lived in Croatia, and when he had free time, he would often come to visit me.”
“So I’m mostly alone here, and he’s usually one of the people who calls me up, asking me out for lunch, dinner, whatever.”
“It’s a completely different story from when I was at Leipzig,”
Guardiola played 42 games in all competitions last season, scoring five goals and providing three assists in an inverted left- back role.