Josko Gvardiol almost quit football when he was a youth player to play basketball “to feel happier”, he admitted.

The Manchester City defender nearly made the career-altering choice when he played for Dinamo Zagreb.

Gvardiol, then aged 16, wasn’t progressing into Zagreb’s first-team so looked elsewhere for a possible career in professional sports.

“I was thinking about quitting because I like basketball as well,” he told BBC Sport.

“I wasn’t sure in football any more because when you get to the training ground you don’t feel happy any more, 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.”

But Gvardiol eventually broke into Zagreb’s team where he won consecutive championships in Croatia. His £16 million (£21m) move to RB Leipzig made him the most expensive Croatian teenager ever.

City signed Gvardiol two years later for £77m ($103m), making him the second-most expensive defender in history. Only Harry Maguire’s arrival at Manchester United came with a bigger fee.

Gvardiol has scored more Premier League goals than any other defender since his arrival at City. He played in 55 of City’s 61 games last season at centre-back and left-back.

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But the Croatian has most recently featured as a left-sided centre-back amid a five-game unbeaten run for City.

“I’m happy to be back to my position,” he said.

“Just play simple, protect the goal, defend the goal.

“Obviously we have new goals this season and we want to aim high. But I like to say that it’s quite early to talk about our goals, the season is long so let’s go game by game.”

City trail Arsenal by three points at the top of the Premier League table. They aim to reduce that gap this weekend when they face Aston Villa.