Joško Gvardiol (Croatian pronunciation: [jôʃko ɡʋârdioːl]; born 23 January 2002) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or left-back for Premier League club Manchester City and the Croatia national team. Gvardiol is known for his on-pitch composure, precise passing, and defensive capabilities.
A product of Dinamo Zagreb youth academy, Gvardiol made his professional debut for the club in 2019, and went on to win two league titles as well as the Croatian Cup. He moved to Bundesliga club RB Leipzig in 2021, where he won two DFB-Pokals before he was signed by Manchester City in 2023 for £77 million, making him the most expensive defender in footballing history.
A former Croatian youth international, Gvardiol made his debut for the senior team in 2021. He represented them at the UEFA European Championship in 2020 and 2024, and the FIFA World Cup in 2022 and 2026. At his first World Cup in 2022, he helped the team secure third place, earning his first World Cup medal.
Gvardiol was born on 23 January 2002 in Srednjaci, a neighbourhood of Zagreb, Croatia, where he was raised. His father, Tihomir, a native of Novigrad near Zadar, works as a fisherman. His mother, Sanja, a native of the Srednjaci, works as an employee of a wholesale company. His older sisters Lorena and Franka are a fashion model and a handball player, respectively.
As a youth footballer for Dinamo Zagreb, Gvardiol struggled with playing time and initially considered quitting football to sell fish. In an interview with BBC sports Gvardiol also mentioned that he considered switching to basketball, since many of his friends played basketball at the time. However, he decided to continue his career after a family friend drew up a mental map to encourage him.
Gvardiol started playing football at the age of seven when his father Tihomir, once an amateur player in his native Novigrad, took him to Trešnjevka. While there, he was spotted by Lokomotiva and Zagreb. However, at the last minute, he received an offer from Dinamo Zagreb which his family accepted.Initially, he played as a left-back or a central midfielder until Dinamo academy coach Dalibor Poldrugač moved him to the centre-back position. Soon after, Gvardiol started drawing interest from prominent European clubs, including Manchester City, Lille, Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich, Ajax, Inter Milan and Roma. He played a key part in Dinamo's 2018–19 UEFA Youth League campaign, where they reached quarter-finals before losing 4–2 to Chelsea in a penalty shootout. After being impressed by his performances for youth teams, senior Dinamo coach Nenad Bjelica called Gvardiol up to the senior team for pre-season games in Slovenia in summer 2019. On 2 July, he scored in a 2–0 friendly win over Austria Klagenfurt. On 10 October 2019, he was included in The Guardian's Next Generation list.
Gvardiol made his league debut for the senior Dinamo team on 18 October in a 4–2 victory over Gorica, coming on for Mario Gavranović in the 87th minute. In his second league appearance for the club on 2 November, he scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory over Inter Zaprešić. That made him the sixth youngest league goal scorer for Dinamo, after Alen Halilović, Mateo Kovačić, Niko Kranjčar, Ante Ćorić and Tin Jedvaj.
On 12 February 2020, in a UEFA Youth League play-off against Dynamo Kyiv, Gvardiol successfully converted a penalty in a shootout as Dinamo won 4–3 and qualified for the round of 16. In the round of 16 against Bayern Munich on 4 March, Gvardiol deflected Leon Dajaku's shot into his own net to set the score to 2–2. In the resulting shootout, he successfully converted his attempt again as Dinamo won 6–5 and progressed to the quarter-finals. On 25 June, Gvardiol signed a five-year contract with Dinamo. On 5 July, in the derby against Rijeka when the league title was already secured, Gvardiol deflected Franko Andrijašević's shot into his own net as Rijeka won 2–0, which would eventually cost coach Igor Jovićević his job.
On 26 August, in the Champions League qualifier against CFR Cluj, Gvardiol came on as a substitute for Mario Gavranović in the 54th minute following Kévin Théophile-Catherine's red card. The game led to a penalty shootout, with Gvardiol successfully converting his attempt, as Dinamo won 6–5 and progressed to the third qualifying round. In late August and early September, the media reported on the interest of the newly promoted Premier League side Leeds United, whose manager Marcelo Bielsa offered €22 million to sign the 18-year-old Croat. However, Gvardiol refused the offer and opted to stay in the Prva HNL and develop further. On 16 September, in a Champions League qualifier against Ferencváros, Gvardiol made an error that led to Myrto Uzuni's winning goal for 2–1 as the Hungarian champions knocked Dinamo out to the Europa League play-offs.
However, on 28 September, it was announced that Gvardiol signed for Bundesliga club RB Leipzig on a five-year contract for €16 million, plus various add-ons. The fee was the highest ever paid for a Croatian teenager and the third highest ever paid for a Croatian defender, only behind Dejan Lovren and Duje Ćaleta-Car. Gvardiol remained at Dinamo for the remainder of the season. On 22 October, he debuted for Dinamo in a senior UEFA competition in a goalless draw against Feyenoord in the Europa League. On 16 November, Gvardiol tested positive for COVID-19, which forced him to miss the derby against Osijek, now managed by Bjelica, on 21 November. On 10 December, Gvardiol scored his first goal in a senior UEFA competition, as Dinamo defeated CSKA Moscow 3–1 in the Europa League. After completion of the Europa League group stage, Gvardiol's performances were highly praised, as Dinamo conceded only one goal and topped their group.
On 28 February 2021, Gvardiol scored the opening goal and assisted the third one in a 3–0 victory against Slaven Belupo. However, after a quadriceps injury in training in early March, he was forced to miss both legs of Dinamo's Europa League Round of 16 tie against Tottenham Hotspur, which Dinamo won 3–2 on aggregate. He returned for the quarter-final match against Villarreal on 8 April, which ended as a 1–0 loss. Three days later, he scored his third goal of the season in a 2–0 victory over Lokomotiva. On 22 May, Gvardiol played his last game for Dinamo, 1–0 victory against Šibenik.
Gvardiol made his Bundesliga debut on 20 August 2021 in a 4–0 victory over VfB Stuttgart, playing the entire match. He quickly established himself in Leipzig's starting XI and attracted attention with his good plays.
On 15 September 2021, he made his Champions League debut in a 6–3 defeat to Manchester City. On 11 December, he scored his debut goal for Leipzig in a 4–1 victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach. He significantly contributed to Leipzig's good form during the beginning of Domenico Tedesco's tenure as manager, after the poor start of the season during previous manager Jesse Marsch's term.
On 23 January 2022, he scored his second goal of the season in a 2–0 victory over VfL Wolfsburg. By the end of the season, Gvardiol helped Leipzig win the DFB-Pokal and reach the semi-finals of the Europa League, accomplishing both feats for the first time in the history of the club. Furthermore, the DFB-Pokal victory was also the first major trophy title in the history of the club. On 12 August, France Football announced Gvardiol as one of the nominees for the 2022 Kopa Trophy, where he eventually finished in sixth place. On 1 September, Gvardiol extended his contract with RB Leipzig until 2027, with the club having rejected Chelsea's €90 million offer for the player. On 25 October, Gvardiol scored his first ever Champions League goal in a 3–2 victory over Real Madrid. The game was Madrid's first defeat of the season. On 22 February 2023, Gvardiol scored an equaliser in a 1–1 draw with Manchester City in the Champions League round of 16. Aged 21 years and 30 days, he became the youngest Croatian player ever to score in a Champions League knockout phase.