Mateo Kovacic is accomplishing what six Manchester City players could not under Pep Guardiola.
Mateo Kovacic has settled in swiftly and nearly without incident at Manchester City.
The Croatia international was the first of four key acquisitions this summer, moving from Chelsea in a £25 million deal. After captaining City to the treble in June, Ilkay Gundogan left a large pair of shoes to fill.
Kovacic was never seen as a direct substitute for Gundogan, particularly in terms of the German’s position in the squad hierarchy, but the 29-year-old has fit in so well that it’s difficult to envisage the club without him. He has only played 479 minutes of competitive action with his new team, but he appears to have played 479 games.
Mateo Kovacic is accomplishing what six Manchester City players could not under Pep Guardiola.
significantly for a midfielder with extensive Champions League and international experience, settling into a new squad is difficult, and the task gets significantly more difficult when that new team is City. Nonetheless, Kovacic has been eager to learn from the start and appears to have caught on quickly.
“I’ve only been here for two weeks, but you can tell right away that he (Guardiola) has a clear idea of what he wants,” Kovacic confessed during pre-season. “It’s on an other level.
“I came here to learn, and I believe he is the best coach on the planet.” It’s a nice feeling to be able to learn from him, especially as a midfielder.
“He knows when it’s best to move. This is also the reason I came here. “To become a better version of myself.”
On Saturday, Kovacic was undoubtedly City’s best player in a game in which Erling Haaland scored another hat-trick. The Norwegian was clinical at times but erupted in others, but his new comrade ticked along and it is amazing how quickly he has taken things up.
Pep Guardiola is one of the most tactically intricate coaches in history, and he may be difficult to adapt to. The City manager expects excellence from the start in a system in which most new arrivals have never played before, and he will drop them without hesitation if they fail to make the grade.
Some of City’s most influential players throughout Guardiola’s tenure had rocky starts in Manchester. Most recently, Jack Grealish was scrutinized in his first season with the Blues after signing in a £100 million transfer from Aston Villa.
Having been given free rein at Villa Park, he struggled with Guardiola’s rigid approach to wide play and need for possession. Last season, the 27-year-old came into his own, although he was open about his troubles.
Similarly, fellow winger Riyad Mahrez moved from being a star at Leicester who could practically do whatever he wanted to becoming a cog in the City machine. Rodri, perhaps Guardiola’s most important player, was forced to compete for minutes with the seasoned and seemingly unreplaceable Fernandinho.
Nathan Ake struggled to make the transition from Bournemouth to City, spending two seasons on the outside until demonstrating his worth last season. Both Joao Cancelo and John Stones had difficult starts to their careers under Guardiola.
Guardiola’s demands were met by all six, with all save Mahrez and Cancelo currently forming the heart of City’s team. The time it took them to adapt varied, but the manager remained patient, understanding how tough it was to learn the method.
There hasn’t been a similar stretch with Kovacic, who treated his sixth game on Saturday as if it were his 600th. £25 million appears to be the transaction of the summer.
