Manchester City star set for contract extension just 12 months after joining the club

Officials at Manchester City are being tipped to hand a brand new contract to one of their summer recruits from the last summer transfer window, according to reports.

The summer market of 2023 saw Etihad bosses make a number of changes to Manchester City’s first-team squad, with Mateo Kovacic being the first of several recruits into Pep Guardiola’s eventual-Premier League winning system.

Jeremy Doku and Matheus Nunes would also join the operation later in the window, with Josko Gvardiol becoming the club’s second Croatian arrival prior to the signing of the aforementioned duo.

The 22-year-old full-back has been a revelation for Pep Guardiola since arriving from RB Leipzig, and his performances were credited by some around the football club as being instrumental to their second-half successes.

And now Manchester City themselves look to be the next to recognise the fine work of the exciting versatile defender, by working on the prospect of a new and improved contractual agreement with the player.

That is according to the information of Manchester City insider ‘Tolmie’s Hairdoo’ on X, who reports that Etihad Stadium bosses could look to hand star defensive option Josko Gvardiol a new deal just 12 months after his arrival.

It is pointed out that an extension to the Croatian’s current agreement – which runs until the summer of 2028 – would follow a similar policy deployed by Manchester City for the likes of Ederson, Aymeric Laporte, Ruben Dias and Gabriel Jesus following their arrivals.

While there had been some conversation about the potential for Manchester City to bring in a more natural left-back during the upcoming summer market, Pep Guardiola is likely to be content with Gvardiol and Nathan Ake as his rotational profiles.

Importantly for the Catalan coach, both defenders can also operate elsewhere along the defensive line, with the Dutch international starring on the left of the central defensive pairing for the most part of the second-half of the campaign.

Manchester City’s more priority positions are likely to revolve around the centre of the park and the club’s requirement for new names to make up for the growing uncertainty around the likes of Bernardo Silva and Kalvin Phillips.