Manchester City spent a big sum of money in 2023 to ensure their standards didn’t slip after a remarkable treble triumph.
Pep Guardiola waved goodbye to several stalwarts as Ilkay Gundogan, Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte departed for pastures new, with youngster Cole Palmer also leaving.
So Manchester City had to work to replenish their numbers and recruited Josko Gvardiol, Mateo Kovacic, Jeremy Doku and Matheus Nunes to replace them.
But which one was the signing of the season? Manchester City News writers are in complete agreement.
Srinivas Sadhanand – Josko Gvardiol
Josko Gvardiol’s sensational displays during the title run-in will dominate the discourse around his first season at Manchester City.
But Gvardiol has perhaps fit into the club in a way that even a club hero in John Stones failed to from day one.
Barring a few errors that come with playing a complex hybrid role that was foreign to him, the Croatian has proven he is as much of an old-school defender as he is a technical phenom.
It has been second nature for Gvardiol to perfectly time his challenges and dance past opposition defenders with his quick feet from the moment he sported sky blue.
With time promising that he will only further hone his craft, Gvardiol might be the most talented young player the club has ever signed.
The scariest prospect about the 22-year-old is he is yet to have played in his natural position.
James Thompson – Josko Gvardiol
For a centre-back at the age of 21 to make a big money move to City, to then play the majority of the campaign in the left-back role of a side who don’t play full-backs like any other team, is incredible.
Josko Gvardiol’s performances, particularly in the second half of the campaign, proved why City decided to shell out £77m to sign him.
Even though the Croatian spent a lot of time further up the field, he did all of his defensive work well and always looked composed on the ball.
Tom Proctor – Josko Gvardiol
It took a little bit of time for Gvardiol to settle at City, and that was understandable with him coming to a new league as a young player with a huge price tag.
He was deployed at left-back by Pep, and he had to learn the ropes pretty quickly. After some struggles, Gvardiol just went to a completely new level in the final couple of months of the season and finished the campaign as one of the most in-form City players.
You can go back and read the rest of the Manchester City News awards with our writers’ picks for Goal of the Season, Breakout Star of the Season, Win of the Season and Unsung Hero of the Season already available.
Return on Sunday for the big one, the Player of the Year award.