Manchester City defender Josko Gvardiol has disclosed that he nearly quit football when he was playing for Dinamo Zagreb in his homeland.

He joined Zagreb’s youth side in 2010 but struggled to get minutes as he moved up the ranks.

By 16, he was considering moving away from football after struggling.

In a chat with BBC, Gvardiol stated that he was days away from quitting football ‘to feel happier’.

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“I was thinking about quitting because I like basketball as well. I wasn’t sure in football anymore because when you get to the training ground, you don’t feel happy anymore, you know?

“I was just trying to find other solutions and to feel happier than I felt before because all of my friends were playing basketball.

“My dream obviously was to become a professional football player, but I didn’t know that I was going to go that far.

“If you go five years back and ask me, do you see yourself at Manchester City in 2023, ’24, ’25? I would say no chance, like really impossible.”