Mateo Kovacic, in a surprising disclosure, has expressed regret for not joining Manchester City and working under Pep Guardiola earlier in his exceptional career.
The Croatian midfielder, who won four titles during his outstanding spell at Chelsea, including the coveted Champions League, joined City in the previous summer transfer window for a fee of £25 million.
“It’s amazing and tough because I’m learning a lot of new things and I would have loved to come at an earlier age to learn,” said Kovacic.
“But it’s never too late to learn. I think like that. So I’m happy I can learn from him and what he tells you.
“I would’ve loved someone to have told me a few years ago. But yeah, now I can still learn and you can really tell he is fantastic. I’ve really enjoyed it from the first moment. It was tough the first few days to understand what he wants – ‘don’t move there, go there’.
“So I like to run a lot on the pitch sometimes – ‘go there, go there’. But he told me, ‘Be more calm, don’t run too much’.
So it was like a little bit of surprise for me as well and it’s nice. The club you can tell from the first day is amazing. The people are great, and the city is also nice.”
With nearly 500 professional appearances, Kovacic suddenly finds himself in a position similar to beginning over as he immerses himself in Guardiola’s technical genius.
The 29-year-old, who has previously played for Dinamo Zagreb, Inter Milan, and Real Madrid, wishes he had had the opportunity to learn under Guardiola’s guidance sooner, recognizing the City manager’s standing as the best coach in the world.
As Kovacic adapts to the complexities of Guardiola’s system, football fans wonder what would have happened if the midfielder had embraced this learning curve earlier in his career.
See More:
- Manchester City interested in re-signing Bayern winger Leroy Sane
- Man City join race for Athletic Bilbao attacker Nico Williams
