Manchester City’s Rolls Royce has the potential to be one of the best players in the game

After the performance of Manchester City’s Rolls Royce last night at the Bernabeu during City’s 3-all draw with Real Madrid, one thing became abundantly clear. Josko Gvardiol has the potential to become one of the best players in the game. While he scored a spectacular goal, it was the all-around display from Gvardiol that showed that City have another gem on their hands.

Since arriving from RB Leipzig last summer, it has taken Manchester City’s Rolls Royce time to adjust to life under Pep Guardiola. The consensus was when Gvardiol was signed that he would be coming in to play a role in the centre of defence. Instead, he has played primarily as a left back for the treble winners. It is in this role that his tremendous technical ability has shone through. His tremendous defensive ability has still been a valuable asset to City, but his ability with the ball has become a valuable weapon for the European champions.

His all-around game was on full display against Real Madrid last night. A Champions League quarter-final is a pressure cooker of an environment for any player to shine. Facing off against Vinicius Junior or Rodrygo at left-back is another daunting task. It was against this backdrop where Gvardiol’s immense ability shone.

In possession, he was a valuable contributor to Manchester City’s possession game. As per sofascore he completed 62/68 passes, which was crucial in Pep Guardiola’s regaining control of last night’s game,  especially in the second half. Defensively, he did his job with a 100% tackle completion rate. Gvardiol also made 3 interceptions and had 6 recoveries in an energetic display. There could be an argument that Gvardiol was caught centrally on Federico Valverde’s stunning volley, which made the game 3-all. But that goal was more down to Valverde’s quality than a defensive error.

Speaking post game Gvardiol was thrilled to score his first goal for Manchester City. In an interview published on mancity.com the Croatian defender said: “I’m happy for my first goal for City, especially against a great opponent. I’m happy. The first touch was not that good. But in the end, I thought ‘well I’m just going to hit it and see what happens.” Gvardiol was also happy with the result and eager for next week’s return leg. He added: “What a game. It was the first time for me to play here at this stadium. It was an amazing atmosphere, and we take the result and look forward to the game at home.”

What the Croatian internationals performance last night showed is that he has the capability to become one of the premier players in world football. Whether it be at left-back, centre back, or one day in a similar role to John Stones, Josko Gvardiol has all the tools and temperament to get to the very top of the game. Come the final whistle last night, it was clear that Manchester City’s Rolls Royce is destined for a big future at the world champions.