As a left-footed wonderkid who had experience as a center-back and as a full-back on football’s grandest stages — having played in the Champions League and at the FIFA World Cup — he was almost painted as a unicorn of sorts. Around 75 per cent of players in the Premier League prefer to use their right boot, which is why lefties are often valued highly in the market.
Gvardiol proceeded to join the treble winners, Manchester City, arriving at the Etihad Stadium for a transfer fee in the region of $100m (£78m/€90m) with Pep Guardiola known to place plenty of weight on the footedness of his players. Indeed, after signing Aymeric Laporte in 2018, the Spaniard said one of the main reasons for buying him was his left-footed preference. “It’s so important to have a left-footed central defender,” he said after the move was confirmed (via the Manchester Evening News). “He helps us to make our build-up and when the ball comes from the right, he immediately controls to the left and plays it to Leroy [Sané] — that is quicker than we would play with a right-footer in that position.”
Laporte departed Manchester to move to Saudi Arabia over the summer, with Guardiola moving for Gvardiol as his replacement from RB Leipzig. The Croatian defender could have been targeted by Liverpool at the time, especially considering he is known to be a boyhood Reds supporter.
“Since I was a little boy, my dad and I watched Liverpool matches, and I grew up with only them,” he once told Croatian news outlet 24Sata. “When I took football more seriously, I started following them, and I definitely want the Premier League and Liverpool.” Jürgen Klopp would have been justified if he decided to chase his signature in the summer. All of his options in the heart of his defense at Liverpool are right-footed including Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez, Joël Matip and Ibrahima Konaté. He is almost at somewhat of a disadvantage in comparison to his managerial peers in England.
Joško Gvardiol was one of the hottest commodities on the market in the most recent summer transfer window, largely because of the rare profile that he possesses. The Croatian international was just 21 years old, yet he was already known to be one of the best defenders in the world and, crucially, he also favored his left foot.
