Black T-shirt, no tie and trousers and jacket of the same color. Sober and elegant, Ilkay Gündogan smiled even more when he heard the ovations of some fans who were on the balconies of the buildings surrounding the FC Barcelona sports city. “Gündogan, we love you!”, they told him.
Then the Cant del Barça played. And Gündogan, escorted by president Joan Laporta, advanced towards the stage set up for the occasion. He will not officially be captain, but in the offices they consider that the ex-captain of Guardiola’s City has the wood to be a leader without an armband. His gestures, his confident tone and above all the optimism he conveyed in his long pose explain why. “I want to be part of Barça’s comeback in Europe”, he pointed out.
Surrounded by his family, his wife Sara Arfaoui and their son, Qais, who was born in March and who was dressed in the colors of Barça and a bib included, Gündogan signed the contract for the next two seasons with the option of one more depending on the matches he plays. “I always wanted to come here. As a child I watched Rijkaard’s matches and also Guardiola’s. With this young team combined with my experience, we can do great things. Pedri, Gavi, De Jong… there are wonderful midfielders”, explained Gündogan after dressing in shorts with the Barcelona kit still with the number to be defined. Laporta appeared excited to have managed to seduce the former City captain and undoubtedly the star signing of the team. Not because of its price, since it has arrived free, but because of its influence. Proudly, Laporta handed him his membership card. It has the number 151,201. “You are the first player that Xavi asked us. You know the style. You know that by playing better it is easier to win”, said Laporta to the German footballer in English. “Next time I’ll tell you in Catalan. But I want to thank you for making an effort to come”, emphasized the president after hugging him.
The director of football, Mateu Alemany, joined the sprint for the official photo, with one eye on closing the signing of Oriol Romeu. In the press room Alemany revealed how the operation was cooked up. “The first time we spoke was when we closed the signing of Christensen. They share an agent. We commented that day that Gündogan should be next. We obviously waited until January and with a collective effort with Xavi, Jordi Cruyff and vice-president Rafa Yuste we started working on it. I know that your uncle is financially happy with what we have agreed, but in the end you have chosen”, Alemany said jokingly under the watchful eye of Ilhan Gündogan, the footballer’s agent and uncle. By the way, what do you want us to call you?, asked Alemany. “Gündo”, answered the German before revealing details of his conversation with Xavi, a key piece to close his arrival. “He has always been one of my references. His idea is very similar to Pep’s. We connected very well. Sometimes how you say it is more important than what you say. The coach values ??my versatility in the center of the field”, he explained. It was on June 19 that Gündogan called Guardiola from the German training camp to inform him of his decision. “I wanted Pep to be the first to know. I expressed my gratitude to him. He couldn’t do much to convince me, it was clear”, he added. One of the people responsible for Gündogan deciding on Barcelona was Robert Lewandowski. Both played three seasons at Borussia Dortmund. “He told me about the club, the Mediterranean lifestyle, the city and how he likes being part of Barça. His words were very powerful”, revealed Gündogan. “We want to go one step further and compete for the Champions League,” Laporta told him. “I know that I can contribute to achieve it”, replied Gündogan.
The party ended with the president singing happy birthday to Sara, Gündogan’s wife, who was 29 years old. Laporta even brought a cake with a candle.
