While most footballers spend the season drops on a beach or adheres to light training, Josko Gvardiol had a very different idea: to become a full action hero.
Before the 2025/26 campaign, the Manchester City Defender launched himself to a “real life command mission” at home in Croatia, courtesy of Commando Squad 9, a company that turns the tactical war scenarios into video games into immersive and real world experiences.
Gvardiol participated in a wide variety of simulated combat challenges.
The photos shared on his Instagram showed that the Croatian center stormed the forests, mixing on the ground, sailing by water missions and even mocked an “enemy”, all with replicas and professional supervision.
“The definitive mental and physical preparation for next season!” Gvardiol titled his site. “@Commandos_9 is the transformation of a tactical video game in reality: all Airsoft replicas and, with these advantages, I felt 100% safe.”
“I always wanted to know how to feel part of a special forces team and complete a real command mission,” he added.
Do you want to live your own fantasy war movie? You can, but the packages start at £ 7,000. A sun lounge in Tenerife can be the safest (and cheapest) bet.
