'Quite difficult' - Man City player doubles down on positional switch amid new partnership

'Quite difficult' - Man City player doubles down on positional switch amid new partnership

Josko Gvardiol moved to centre-back towards the end of last season and the Manchester City defender is keen to stay there.

Josko Gvardiol is set to make his first City appearance of the summer this week

Josko Gvardiol has admitted it's "quite difficult" to talk about where he wants to play for Manchester City, but said he would prefer to remain in the centre and build on his promising partnership with Ruben Dias.

Gvardiol had spent most of his City career at left-back until moving inside towards the end of last season, with Nico O'Reilly coming into the team on the left and allowing the Croatian to make the switch.

His form at full-back and in the centre of defence was enough for Gvardiol to win the club's player of the year award and after City completed a £31million move for Rayan Ait-Nouri this summer, he is likely to stay at centre-back.

His move there was partly forced by injuries last season, and Manuel Akanji, Nathan Ake and John Stones are now fit and ready to compete for a spot during the Club World Cup. Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis are also options for Pep Guardiola after their January arrivals.

Gvardiol has previously said he would rather play at centre-back, and he repeated that after being presented with the player of the season trophy, although he made it clear he was happy to play wherever he was picked.

"It's quite difficult to talk about my position," he said. "In general, I like to play more central but even if I play outside is something I can do. Everyone knows what kind of person and player I am, I give my best no matter what position I play.

"I'm still young, I'm happy here with you guys, I think I still have a lot of space for improvement. Let's go day by day, game by game."

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Gvardiol is the second defender in the last 12 years to win City's player of the season trophy and although he barely put a foot wrong last season, the honour comes after a difficult campaign for the club.

The Blues won the Community Shield but couldn't build on that, finishing third in the Premier League, exiting the Champions League in the play-off round and then losing the FA Cup final to Crystal Palace. Gvardiol was still honoured to win the award but is targeting collective glory next season.

"It means a lot, especially after a season we had last season. I'm grateful, but football is not an individual sport. I prefer to win a bit different trophies but in general, I can be happy with this and happy to be part of this club," he said.

"Hopefully, this season, we change something. There is a big opportunity to win some good trophies, and we can all celebrate and enjoy those moments."

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