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Kovačić gets a Yankee jersey ahead of the game. "It's nice to be at great stadium and to have the opportunity to be there," he says. "It was a great match against, against the historical team. So really, really nice experience."

He's not a baseball fan, he says. "I'm in love with football—with soccer, how you call it here—it's a sport I follow all day, all night."

Christian Pulisic of AC Milan and Kovačić chat before the Yankee Stadium game.

A selfie in America! It's been a busy summer for Kovačić—he played with Croatia in the Euros—but he tries to spend as much time as he can with his family.

"We are here for having good training sessions to preparing ourselves for what's coming into the season," he says. "I'm looking more forward to be ready for each training and each game than the rest around it. In the end, it's preseason for us, it's about work and getting the fitness on a good level."

Kovačić made his debut with City just over a year ago. "Everything goes so quick!" he says. "It's incredible. The highlight was winning the Premier League—for the club to win four in a row, it's something special and unique and it's really a great thing to be part of it."

Kovačić speaking with media in Orlando ahead of the match against Barcelona, which is part of the DIRECTV Soccer Champions Tour in partnership with FC Series.

"When you achieve , it's really a special feeling," he says of winning the Premier League. "When you look back, you fight for a lot during the season and then to win it...This is really a big, big joy."

"I don't like to look too much ahead or in the future for now," he explains. "It's really to just get going, physically and mentally, for what's coming, because it will be a long, long season." He's pictured here training with his teammates.