It was hard to think how Pep Guardiola might improve Manchester City's squad after they won the treble last season. But it appears he found a way to do so by signing Josko Gvardiol.

The Premier League champions have completed a deal for the Croatian centre-back, signing him from RB Leipzig for a reported fee of £77.6 million. He becomes City’s second signing of the summer after they purchased his Croatian international teammate, Mateo Kovacic, from Chelsea.

During his time in Germany, Gvardiol established himself as one of the most promising young defenders in football, making 87 appearances for Leipzig since joining from Dinamo Zagreb.

He helped the Bundesliga club triumph twice in the DFB-Pokal, and also found the back of the net when Leipzig faced City in the Champions League last season.

He might only be 21 years old, but Gvardiol has also become an important player for the Croatian national team. He has already played 21 times for the senior team and was a consistent presence at the 2022 World Cup. Although he was left rather red-faced by Lionel Messi in the semi-final.

All of the above has earned him high praise from his new club teammate Kovacic, who gave Gvardiol a glowing review as reports flooded in about City pursuing the centre-back.

“Josko has great potential,’ the former Chelsea man said, per the Daily Mail. ‘He can come here and learn and be the best version of himself. I’d obviously like it — I’m a good friend with him and he’s Croatian. It would be nice to have a Croatian by my side here.

“He’s already played a lot of big games. He is ready for this step.

“I think it’s a good time (to join City). They are on a great run, a very confident team and a team you can learn from. They have possibly the best manager in history. So I came here to join a great group and to try to learn.

“He’s still young but he’s mature. He doesn’t need much advice. He had a great World Cup and a great season with Leipzig.”

Gvardiol’s stats compared to other elite Premier League defenders

Although Guardiola is a man who likes to chop and change his team, given the amount spent on Gvardiol and his prior experience, he likely has one defender on the team sheet for every game.

But how does he compare to some of the other incredible centre-backs currently playing their football in the English top-flight?

Using Squawka’s stats comparison tool, we can see how he measures up against four other elite central defenders in 23 different categories. We have picked out his new City teammate Ruben Dias, as well as Arsenal’s William Saliba, Manchester United centre-back Lisandro Martinez, and Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk, considered to be the best defender in the world at one point.

What the numbers reveal is Gvardiol’s prowess while on the ball. Out of the five players, nobody recorded more long passes attempted per 90, nobody completed more successful long passes, and nobody had a higher long pass accuracy.

And on top of it that, he is joint highest for interceptions per game. A defender who can spray the ball around the pitch at ease and snuff out danger. Talk about being perfectly suited for Guardiola’s style of football.

He stacks up well compared to the others for ball recoveries and duels contested too, but there are a couple of areas where he falls behind. He is joint-highest for fouls conceded per game, and only Martinez won fewer aerial duels per match last season.

His six-foot frame might lead to some attackers getting the better of him in the air, and there are the inevitable questions about how his performances will translate from the Bundesliga to the Premier League. But his past performances should be enough to tell you that he should excel for City.

What about the others?

Although fans can speculate about how Gvardiol’s numbers might hold up in English football, we can definitively see the strengths and weaknesses in the games of everyone else.

Saliba, like Gvardiol, is an exceptionally talented young defender. His best years are certainly ahead of him, and it says a lot that Arsenal’s title charge fell apart when the 22-year-old was ruled out through injury.

In terms of raw numbers, the Frenchman excels on the ground. While Martinez contests more ground duels than Saliba per match, the Arsenal man has a higher success rate than any of the five defenders. On top of that, he ranks second for tackles made.

You should not forget about his ability in the air either, but this is an area where Saliba falls behind. Gvardiol, Dias, and Van Dijk all recorded higher aerial duel success percentages last season for their teams.

Martinez is also exceptional on the ground, contesting more duels and making more tackles than anybody else on this list. He is also head and shoulders above the rest for blocks per match, while only Gvardiol can hold a candle to him for interceptions.

‘The Butcher’s’ main weakness compared to the rest is his ability in the air. While he uses his body well and can win a header now and then, his 5’9” frame means that the giants of the Premier League tower over him. As a result, he wins just 50.79% of his aerial duels. The lowest by some way.

Interestingly, Martinez also ranks dead last for pass accuracy, both long and general. His long-range percentage is considerably lower than the others, a huge 11% less than Dias in fourth.

Speaking of Gvardiol’s new teammate, the Portuguese defender has been one of the league’s best for some time but comes out on top in just three categories - passes attempted, pass accuracy and last-man tackles.

Now, we all know that the 26-year-old is more than capable in every department, but one area where he does fall away is duels on the ground. Despite being effective in the tackle for City, he is last for ground duel success percentage, while only Van Dijk made less tackles per game.

Dias also makes fewer ball recoveries than any of the other defenders, although Guardiola's team win the ball back so high up the pitch more often than not that this is hardly an issue. And given how dominant they are in possession, how often do City's defenders need to get the ball back?

Finally, we have Van Dijk. Nobody comes close to the Dutchman’s dominance in the air, with him first for aerial duels contested, aerial duels won, and aerial duels success percentage. He’s also top for clearances, indicating an ability to put fires out for Liverpool.

But like Dias, he falls away when it comes to defending on the ground. He made the least tackles per game and ground duels won. However, given that he concedes the joint-fewest number of fouls from attempted tackles, he can definitely be considered effective at cleanly winning the ball back.

Who is the Premier League's best defender?

Going off the stats alone, two men out of the five win more categories than anybody else. And the two are Martinez and Van Dijk, each coming out on top in seven different areas. However, they excel in very different parts of the game.

While Martinez is tenacious and excellent at winning the ball back on the ground, Van Dijk is imperious in the air, towering over his opposition and leaping highest to clear any danger.

The same applies to Saliba, Dias and Gvardiol. Saliba, like Martinez, fares a little better on the ground than he does in the air, although his height allows him to be more authoritative aerially. Meanwhile, the two Manchester City men are especially good when on the ball, with Dias having the best pass accuracy percentage while Gvardiol is more effective than the others when making long-range passing.

Are we saying that each of these men are poor in the areas they rank low in? Absolutely not. No defender is without flaws, and each player spoken about here has shown an ability to excel in all areas of their game. For that reason, Gvardiol should have little trouble adjusting to life in the Premier League.