Karen Carney has said that one Manchester City player got better with every game he played this season.
The 2023/24 Premier League season came to an end last weekend with the Citizens winning their sixth title in seven years.
While numerous players in Pep Guardiola’s squad got their hands on yet another league title, others experienced it for the first time in a City shirt.
Now though, one player, who has now completed his first Premier League campaign with the Blues, has found himself on the end of some big praise in regards to what he delivered on the pitch throughout the season.
Pundit says Josko Gvardiol has evolved quickly at Man City
Speaking in a recent edition of The Weekend Wrap by Premier League Productions (via Optus Sport), Carney had this to say about Josko Gvardiol and his performances for City throughout the season.
She said: “Not many players have a good first season at City, they kind of warm up and settle in two or three years, but he’s grown and grown.”
During the previous summer transfer window, City paid £77m to sign the defender from RB Leipzig.
Across the campaign, the 22-year-old featured in 28 league games, starting 26 of them and featuring predominantly in the left-back position.
Gvardiol has had a strong debut season at Man City
The £200k-a-week defender ended his debut league campaign with more blocks (36) than any other player in the City squad.
He also made more successful tackles (33) than any other defender at the club, further highlighting how much of a capable defensive figure he is.
His overall performances earned Gvardiol a solid season rating of 7.03/10 from WhoScored, making him the eighth-highest-rated player in the City squad, above any other defender at the club.
Bearing in mind how Jack Grealish admitted that he found it difficult to settle in at City in terms of the football side of things even though he already had Premier League experience under his belt, the fact that Gvardiol has not only had to have his first season in England at the age of 22 and predominantly play a role he wasn’t used to shows just how well he’s adapted and evolved in a fairly short period of time.