Barcelona have made it clear to Ilkay Gundogan that he is not key part of their plans for the upcoming season, and it looks as if could be on his way out of Catalonia little over 12 months after arriving.
On Monday it was reported that Gundogan had given the green light to his agents to look for a new club, amid links to various options. Now, according to Fabrizio Romano, former side Manchester City have gotten in contact with Barcelona regarding a sensational return.
🚨🔵 Manchester City have made contact with Ilkay Gündogan’s camp over potential return for German midfielder.
City and Pep Guardiola open to consider Gündo’s comeback.
↪️⚠️ Barça want Gündogan to leave… and he also received approaches from Qatar, Saudi and more clubs. pic.twitter.com/hHmZhao0jj
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 19, 2024
Gundogan also has offers from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, while Galatasaray have also been linked to him, but they will only move for the 33-year-old if it is on a free transfer. It looks as if Barcelona will allow him to leave on a free though. Romano has gone on to reveal is that Gundogan will be leaving Barcelona, and that City manager Pep Guardiola is open to a return for Gundogan.
Despite manager Hansi Flick saying over the weekend he believed that his compatriot would be staying, it was the Barcelona coach that told Gundogan he would no longer be a starter under him, as per MD. That has been corroborated by Diario AS, who say that Flick does not believe Robert Lewandowski and Ilkay Gundogan can be in the team at the same time, as long as he wants to carry out his high press.
Real Betis' management has just arrived in Barcelona to negotiate for a Vitor Roque loan deal. @FabrizioRomano
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) August 19, 2024
The veteran midfielder would save Barcelona around €20m in gross salary (€10m net), which they could use to reinvest in the squad, with their salary limit biting once again. As they are still over the limit, they would be able to reinvest €14m, which could be enough to register Dani Olmo, who missed the first league game of the season due to their financial troubles.
The ex-Manchester City captain played more games than any other player for Barcelona last season, and provided a career-high 14 assists, despite at times playing in a deeper role under Xavi Hernandez. It appears in the fairly clear 4-2-3-1 setup that Flick has been employing, Gundogan is only seen as the furthest forward of the central midfielders, and where Barcelona already have Olmo, Fermin Lopez, Pedri, Gavi, and even Raphinha, who started there on Saturday.
Image via Marc Atkins/Getty Images
STAY AT BARCA. you was offered a contract at city but didnt want it as it did not meet what you wanted. You thought go barca grass greener, you not going to get what you want at barca after a year and now want to come back to city. NAH MATE you made ya decision now live with it. PLUS 33 now so no thank you