Josko Gvardiol is officially a Manchester City player. Within the last 24 hours, news has come through that the Croatian defender passed his medical. And finally, the Josko Gvardiol transfer fee has been disclosed, as have a few other contract terms. Long story short – he’s been brought into Manchester City for quite a substantial €90 million fee, and he has a five-year deal until August 2028.
However, as exciting as this is, many are wondering when Josko Gvardiol’s Manchester City debut will be. This is perfectly normal following any major signing, and with Gvardiol being 100% fit at the moment, one has to assume that his debut will be sooner rather than later. On that note, let’s explore the topic in further detail right now to see when he might take to the field in a Man City shirt.
The Josko Gvardiol Man City Debut – When and Where?
If you check the latest Man City schedule for the upcoming season, you’ll see that their next match is against Arsenal on Sunday, August 6th. Now, some speculate that with the signing getting completed in the last 24 hours that Josko Gvardiol will feature in this game. However, I can’t see that being the case. I say that purely because that would put Gvardiol on the pitch for Man City around 24/36 hours after signing for the club.
This just seems too quick, in my opinion, and I’m sure that Guardiola will have set up the side for the Community Shield several days ago. Additionally, there are FA regulations that state that Man City would need to have signed off on the deal before midday on Friday, August 4th, in order to play Gvardiol in this match. Now, while the exact timings of the deal haven’t been confirmed, since Josko Gvardiol only passed the medical on Friday, it’s highly unlikely that this deadline was met.
Therefore, the most likely Josko Gvardiol Man City debut will be in the club’s first Premier League fixture, as detailed below.
Manchester City vs Burnley – Friday, August 11th
Assuming that the cut-off for the Community Shield wasn’t met, I believe that the most likely debut will be the game against Burnley. This game is scheduled for Friday, August 11th, which is in six days time (at the time of writing). Therefore, Josko Gvardiol will have time to join Man City in several training sessions and get up to speed in time for this match. Of course, that’s assuming that Pep Guardiola picks him for the squad in this game, which I’m assuming he will.
After all, he’s the biggest signing that Man City have completed this summer, and I doubt they would throw €90 million at a player only to keep him on the bench. However, I should stress that this is by no means a certainty, as other variables might cause Josko Gvardiol to wait for his Manchester City debut. Then again, none of these possible obstacles are as large as the medical timing and FA regulations mentioned earlier.
So it would be surprising if Josko Gvardiol didn’t feature in the game against Burnley, although we won’t know with 100% certainty that he will feature until a few days before the match.
