This weekend's Manchester Derby will see two heavyweights lock horns.
No, we're not talking about the Scandi-sensations Rasmus Hojlund and Erling Haaland, but rather the showdown between football's two most expensive defenders.
Harry Maguire must have been relieved when Josko Gvardiol took over the mantle of the costliest defender in history over the summer. Finally, Maguire had been freed from his shackles.
It was a stick with which to unfairly beat the 30-year-old, who has, to his credit, put in a series of solid display for Manchester United of late.
For Gvardiol, he has made a seamless transition from Bundesliga to Premier League football. Despite Manchester City spending a reported €90million to secure his services, the 21-year-old hasn't looked out of place in English football.
In fact, with everything that has happened with City in recent weeks, little has been made of the speed with which Gvardiol has adjusted to the rigours of English football.
The Croatia international is tailormade for the style of football Pep Guardiola seeks to implement given both his skillset and versatility. Able to cover at both centre-back and left-back, Guardiola's desire to sign Gvardiol as a replacement for Aymeric Laporte was understandable given the in-game tactical flexibility his arrival presented to the Spaniard.
While City have nominally lined up in a 4-2-3-1 setup this season, they rarely remain in such a regimented setup with a fluid system key to their success under Guardiola.
As such, while Gvardiol may show at left-back on the teamsheet, in reality he'll often push forward to operate as an auxiliary midfielder or tuck in to forge a three-man backline. In either role, Gvardiol has succeeded.
A key trait for any City player is their
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