Josko Gvardiol's £77m move to Manchester City from RB Leipzig in August 2023 made him the second-most expensive defender of all time. But the 23-year-old Croatia international revealed he nearly quit his "dream" career in football when playing for Dinamo Zagreb.

"I was thinking about quitting because I like basketball as well," the centre-back told BBC Sport. Aged 16 and struggling to get game time for Zagreb's youth team, Gvardiol considered avenues away from football.

"I wasn't sure in 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."

Gvardiol bided his time and broke into the senior team, winning back-to-back titles with Zagreb and signing off with a league and cup double before sealing his move to the Bundesliga for £16m - a record fee for a Croatian teenager. He impressed in his two seasons in Germany and after 87 appearances for RB Leipzig, Gvardiol signed a five-year deal at Manchester City in 2023.

Harry Maguire is the only defender in world football to have moved for more money, joining 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."

Gone are the days where Gvardiol struggles for minutes. He has become a key component of Guardiola's system, with no defender having scored more goals in the Premier League since his arrival.

"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. "I could feel it on my body, especially in the summer. I had a [knee] injury but now it's finally good after six months."

Last season, he clocked up playing time of more than 6,000 minutes for club and country, featuring in 55 of City's 61 matches and missing only 140 Premier League minutes in the campaign. In a recent Fifapro report, Gvardiol ranked eighth among the top 10 players by matchday squad inclusions for 2024-25 worldwide.

"We cannot forget last season he was one of the most important players, in terms of he played and played and played," Guardiola said. "He's so young, physically he is outstanding, can play in two roles perfectly. He's incredible, coach-able, listens a lot, wants to improve and that will help him to be a better player."

Guardiola favoured playing Gvardiol at left-back for the majority of last season, including in a period when the defending champions managed only one win in 13 games. It was their first trophy-less season since 2016-17 and Gvardiol said of their poor form: "Once it started, it was quite difficult to get out of.

"We spoke about it a lot of times and we were trying to find a solution. At the end we managed to be in the Champions League again and be in the FA Cup final."

This term Guardiola's City seem to have put last season's woes behind them, helped by their summer signings. After losing two of their first three Premier League games, City are unbeaten in five, with Gvardiol returning to his familiar role at left-sided centre-back.

"I'm happy to be back to my position," he said. "Just play simple, protect the goal, defend the goal. Obviously we have new goals this season and we want to aim high. But I like to say that it's quite early to talk about our goals, the season is long so let's go game by game."

Former England and Manchester City forward Ellen White said Gvardiol's return to centre-back has helped improve City's defence this season.

"He was all right at left-back and scored a lot of goals," she told BBC Sport. "The stats speak for themselves - they are now conceding less goals, and shots faced as well. The partnership he has built with Ruben Dias, and having Rodri in front and Gianluigi Donarruma behind, they are building the connections and relationships that they didn't have last season."