Wunderkids

It is a blank cheque to build the most exciting young starting XI in world football.

That is exactly what the new radio show is offering, in fantasy form, over its 11 episodes. The first seven episodes are available to listen to.

Steve Crossman will be joined by experts to discuss the latest inclusion, with one new player revealed each week.

So far, those to have made the cut are new Manchester City forward Julian Alvarez, Bayer Leverkusen winger Florian Wirtz, Ryan Gravenberch, Santos defender Kaiky, Barcelona defender Gavi, and Rennes winger Kamaldeen Sulemana.

Who is he?

Josko Gvardiol playing for Croatia against England at Euro 2020
Gvardiol made his first Croatia start last summer in the opening game of Euro 2020 against England at Wembley and has now played in nine internationals

At eight years old, Gvardiol was spotted by Dinamo Zagreb, the most successful club in Croatia, and he joined the academy that trained Luka Modric and Mateo Kovacic.

He was moved into central defence after playing left-back or centre-midfield. One of the most sought-after commodities in the modern game is a left-sided centre-back who is comfortable on the ball.

He made his league debut at 17 and scored the only goal in his second appearance for Dinamo, who went on to win the league title.

Gvardiol had caught the eye of the Uefa Youth League and had attracted the attention of Leeds United, who made a bid before he signed for Leipzig on a five-year contract for 16m euros.

He was on loan from Dinamo for the next two years, winning another league title before making his international debut last June, and he did enough to earn his first start as Croatia lost to England in the opening game of Euro 2020.

At 19 years, four months and 21 days, Gvardiol surpassed the record of being the country's youngest player at a major tournament, and he started every game before Croatia bowed out in the last 16.

He made his European debut in the 6-3 loss to Manchester City last September.

The 20-year-old has made more league starts than any other player.

What does the expert say?

Josko Gvardiol scores for RB Leipzig against Wolfsburg
On his 20th birthday in January, Gvardiol produced a delightful dinked finish on the break against Wolfsburg for his second goal of the season

Germania Sport has an assistant editor.

He has been built like a tank since he was a child. He can tackle, jump, and go forward. He can play with the ball at his feet, he can play against those big attackers, and he can play against the guys with pace and technical abilities.

He waited two or three hours for the tram after scoring his first goal. He said it was normal for him to go home after scoring the winning goal. He looks at everyone the same, even though he is a football player.

He drives a Volkswagen rather than a Mercedes or Ferrari because he is focused on football. He knew everything he needed to know before he left.

In Croatia, we like to compare him to another person, because he builds that way. He likes to score as many goals as he can, which is one of the reasons he mentioned Thiago Silva and Ramos.

I think he can be as good as Virgil one day. He is one of those guys where you would say he is going to succeed because of how he behaves on and off the field.

He received an offer from the league. It was 99% that the deal would happen. He decided to go to the Bundesliga because he wanted to do one more step before going to the premier league, despite the fact that he was offered a bigger salary.

Even though he didn't sign for Leeds, he started to watch their games to see how he could adapt quickly.

What does the fan say?

The co- founder of Red Campus is Tobias.

I think Gvardiol is one of the best centre-backs. He has a high pass accuracy, a lot of wins in the air, and a lot of turnovers.

When he was at Dinamo Zagreb, he was given a sheet with some tactics that he learned.

When he arrived at our club last summer, he already knew what he had to do, and that is one of the reasons why he is so good right now. We are very glad we have him.

Wunderkids line-up graphic after addition of Josko Gvardiol