Josko Gvardiol remembers the feeling well.

It certainly wasn’t pleasant, and took him a while to shake.  

Yes, Manchester City’s stud defender would eventually become one of the team’s heroes, scoring pivotal goals down the stretch of the season to win last year’s English Premier League title. 

Gvardiol, whom Manchester City made the second-most expensive transfer ever for a defender ($99 million) last summer from German side Red Bull Leipzig, struggled to adapt to his new team and league. 

“I had a period where I was a bit lost,” Gvardiol told The Post in a wide-ranging interview. “That’s only football. You just need to keep working, keep going and my teammates are here to help me adapt. I would say the last couple of months I woke up, I was awake. I showed who I am and what I’m capable of.” 

Manchester City’s famed manager, Pep Guardiola, moved Gvardiol from his normal position, center back, to left back. 

Gvardiol, still just 22, emerged as one of the best young defenders in the world as a center back at RB Leipzig and as one of Croatia’s stars at the 2022 World Cup, helping his nation reach the semifinals. 

But he trusted Guardiola, and he reaped the rewards. 

“I have to say that he’s a genius,” Gvardiol said of Guardiola. “He lives for the sport. I remember one day, he came to our meeting, we were planning something the whole week, how we were gonna play, but that day he came up and said ‘I had a dream,’ and he changed the system and everything. From that moment, I knew he really loved it. 

“What I like is that he is a person and is a manager who likes to help you. He likes to talk about football, about the system, the way we play. I would say that is what makes the difference from the other managers.” 

No team has higher standards than Guardiola and Manchester City.

Nor are there any sides where there is more pressure to perform, without much room — or time — for error. 

Near perfection is constantly required. 

But on a team that became the first Premier League side to ever win four consecutive titles, Gvardiol eventually fit in seamlessly. 

Gvardiol started 26 games in the Premier League, six in the Champions League and four in the F.A. Cup. 

All four of his goals in the Premier League came in the final six weeks, as Manchester City went neck-and-neck with Arsenal at the top of the table. 

And he scored in the Champions League quarterfinals against Spanish giant Real Madrid, though Manchester City were eliminated in the tie. 

“It’s hard to explain. Since I moved, just the vibes here inside the dressing room are different,” Gvardiol said. “In the beginning of the season, we were third or fourth in the table. [My teammates] were saying ‘don’t worry, don’t worry, we’ll get there.’ At the beginning, I didn’t believe it. We were missing [players], Arsenal was first and Aston Villa was on the top as well and they were good teams and I didn’t believe they were gonna drop the points. It wasn’t easy, but we believed in ourselves and at the end we did it.”

New Season, New Expectations

Now fully comfortable and entering his second season with Manchester City, he’s looking to take the next leap toward superstardom on and off the field. 

He partnered with Mackage, a luxury outerwear clothing brand, for the company’s new “Protect Your Craft” line of clothing, participating in a photoshoot in New York City last week. 

He’s been part of Manchester City’s preseason tour in New York City and the United States, where he’s participated in team promotions and events to help grow fandom in America.

“I knew it straight away that this is a good opportunity for me,” Gvardiol said of Mackage. “I’ve never done something like this before. It was also a great experience that we did it in New York. I remember my first day when I came there and I went to the showroom and saw everything, it was something different. That’s what I wanted to try, it’s something that I really like.” 

The Road Ahead

Still, Gvardiol carries a bit of a sour taste into next season. 

Manchester City were upset by Manchester United in the F.A. Cup Final, with Gvardiol gifting United their first goal on an errant back-pass and miscommunication with goalie Stefan Ortega. 

And in Euro 2024, Gvardiol and Croatia were eliminated in the group stages, failing to win any of their three games.   

Gvardiol will just let it fuel him. 

“I still feel disappointed and I still feel the anger losing that game,” Gvardiol said of the F.A. Cup final. “We have a new opportunity to win again. We are gonna try to achieve everything again.”