Revealed: Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol wanted to quit football and sell fish in a market due to doubts over his ability

• Gvardiol struggled to get into team
• Considered quitting the game altogether
• Wanted to sell fish at a market

WHAT HAPPENED? The Croatia defender joined City for a colossal £77 million ($98m) over the summer from RB Leipzig. However, it has been revealed that he nearly gave up trying to become a professional footballer when he was a teenager. According to Four Four Two, Gvardiol was struggling to get into the youth team at Dinamo Zagreb and considered quitting to go and sell fish at the Dolac market in the Croatian capital with his father. However, he decided to continue his career after a family friend drew up a mental map for him titled ‘success’, with the words ‘discipline’, ‘top club’ and ‘hard work’ highlighted on it.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Gvardiol showed plenty of potential when he was coming through Dinamo’s academy. Dalibor Poldrugac, an academy coach for the Croatian giants, said in 2019: “If he’s not a starter for Croatia by the time he’s 20, somebody should go to jail for it.” Gvardiol made his debut for the national team aged 19 in 2021 at the rescheduled European Championship.

AND WHAT’S MORE: The 21-year-old has made a strong start to life with City, winning the UEFA Super Cup earlier this month and impressing in his full debut against Newcastle.