‘I don’t think’… Danny Murphy makes claim about ‘terrific’ £130k-a-week star after 24 games for Manchester City
Danny Murphy has said Josko Gvardiol has not settled as well as people thought he would at Manchester City.
Gvardiol was City’s biggest signing last summer, joining the club for £77 million from RB Leipzig after a very long saga.
The Croatia international had long been on City’s radar, and was one of the most coveted young players in Europe.
City snapped him up and so far, Gvardiol has made 24 appearances across all competitions for the club, playing 1874 minutes, making him the fourth most-used defender for Pep Guardiola after Kyle Walker, Manuel Akanji and Ruben Dias.
For Danny Murphy, Gvardiol has not really set the world alight so far in City colours, as he spoke about the youngster ahead of tomorrow night’s FA Cup clash with Tottenham Hotspur…
Danny Murphy says Josko Gvardiol hasn’t settled as well as expected at Manchester City
Manchester City v Huddersfield Town – Emirates FA Cup Third Round
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Murphy was casting his eye over tomorrow night’s game, and briefly spoke about City’s summer recruits.
There was always going to be a lot of pressure on £130,000-a-week star Gvardiol given the fee City paid.
Murphy reckons that he hasn’t looked completely at ease so far, saying in a video for Chris Crowlin: Spurs Chat Podcast and Tottenham News: “Fingers crossed that Man City aren’t bang at it and they have a few injuries. I don’t know if Haaland is back yet we’ll have to see. I think a few of their new signings have taken a little bit of time to settle.
“We haven’t seen much of (Matheus) Nunes. Doku has done OK. I don’t think Gvardiol has settled as well as we thought. He’s a terrific player but he’s still adapting to the Premier League.”
Gvardiol is doing just fine in his first season with Man City
Rivals fans like to stick the boot in on Gvardiol on social media when he doesn’t have the best game, because of the amount of money he cost.
The expectation is for him to deliver every single game, and that is just unfair because the man has come to the Premier League from the Bundesliga, which is a lower standard, and is shouldering a huge price tag that he did not choose.
It is also very easy to forget that he has only just turned 22 years of age.
Gvardiol has done just fine so far in his first season at the Etihad. Sure, he’s had a few poor performances here and there, like against Chelsea.
But he’s also enjoyed some very good displays, playing a position that he is not used to, like against Luton Town and Manchester United, during which Gary Neville likened him to Paolo Maldini.
You can see that Gvardiol is technically brilliant. But defending in the Premier League is tough against top-class attacking units. The star will get there, but for now he’s doing fine and crucially, he clearly has the trust of his manager.
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