Why Josko Gvardiol is playing out of position at left-back for Man City

Josko Gvardiol's long-term Manchester City future lies at centre-back, but he is more valuable as an auxiliary left-back in the early stages of his Blues career.

Gvardiol made his name at RB Leipzig predominantly as a centre-back, as well as for the Croatian national side where he impressed at the 2022 World Cup in the centre. However, since making the £77.5m switch to City in the summer, he has mostly been used at left-back - usurping Nathan Ake on the left in big games against Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea.

Ake reclaimed his spot against Liverpool this weekend, but Gvardiol accepts it can be helpful for him to drop out as he adapts to the 'more difficult' standards at the Etihad. And Pep Guardiola says he is better off at left-back, coming inside to form a back three in possession, at least for the time being.

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Calling his new signing 'incredible', Guardiola explained why he prefers to use Gvardiol as a full-back, saying: "Maybe it is not easy in the beginning but when he plays he played at the top level and sometimes he moves if Manu [Akanji] or Ruben [Dias] don't play but he is so important.

"Nathan cannot play every three days, we know that, so it's important and in the game at Leipzig he was unbelievable. Of course he can play as a central defender but we make a buildup of three but having Nathan or Josko in the left building up is like a central defender. It is more full-back but I discovered him against Leipzig two or three years ago playing full-back and he was really good."

So with Guardiola offering a hybrid full-back to centre-back explanation for