Very few footballers throughout history can say goodbye to a team being the captain who has just lifted a League, Cup and Champions treble. One was Xavi Hernández, who said goodbye to Barcelona in 2015 through the big door and set course for Qatar. And so Ilkay Gündogan, from Manchester City, is also leaving. He is leaving the Premier League and European champions, precisely, to join Xavi’s Barça.
Yesterday, Barcelona made official the hiring of the German midfielder (Gelsenkirchen, 24/X/1990), who arrives on a free transfer after his contract with the English team ended. The agreement, which was closed last week as the German international had an improved offer to continue at the Etihad Stadium, is for two seasons and includes an optional third, depending on the minutes played; therefore, if it becomes effective, he could play for Blaugrana until June 2026. “I trust that I have a few more years left at the highest level”, he assures him.
“One of the most difficult calls I had to make was to Guardiola, telling him I was leaving,” confesses Gündogan in an open letter to The Players. The conversation between Santpedor’s coach and his pupil ended well. “I know he understands my decision. I’m sure it helps that he’s coming to his boyhood club.”
The footballer will have a release clause of 400 million in his new contract and will play again with Lewandowski, with whom he shared a dressing room in Dortmund between 2011 and 2014.
Gündogan responds to a need that the coaching staff had detected in the squad. Xavi already asked last summer for the arrival of an interior with play between the lines to provide solutions in stuck matches. During the last two seasons, Barcelona has had too much dependence on Pedri’s talent. Without the canary, who has had three muscle injuries that have caused him to miss 39 matches in just two courses, the team has been out of action.
Versatile in midfield, in addition, the German will contribute to increasing the performance capacity of the second line. With the City shirt he has scored 60 goals and in each of the last three he has scored ten or more goals.
Of course, the date of August 12, when the 2023-24 League is scheduled to start, is marked in red on Ilkay Gündogan’s contract. The footballer has reserved an escape route in case the club cannot enroll him in LaLiga due to financial fair play. If the German does not have a ticket for the first day of the League – Barça debuts in Getafe – he will be released from his contract with Barcelona, ??who will have to pay him a penalty.
In the sports dome, they are convinced that there will be no problem for registration, since they consider that in the approved feasibility plan they have the space that has not finally been used for Leo Messi.
With the escape, Gündogan wanted to cover his back but his bet for Barça is firm. “If I had to move, there is only one club in the world where it would make sense to do so. It was Barcelona or nothing. Since I was a child, I dreamed of wearing this shirt one day”, he reflects in his open letter. “I can’t wait to play in the Barcelona shirt”, he says impatiently to start this new chapter.
The interior knows that he is leaving a perfectly greased project like City to join a team under construction. “I want to help Barcelona get back to where it deserves to be,” he says as his goal. The intrinsic pressure of being in a big club doesn’t think it will affect him. “I wasn’t looking for an easy landing. I know there will be a lot of pressure in Barcelona. But I love the pressure, I love getting out of my comfort zone”, he reflects.
Finally, after having a special relationship with Guardiola, the footballer believes that he will also get along well with Xavi, a reference for him and with whom he even identifies on the field. “I’m excited to play with another coach who I’ve admired for a long time. I see so many similarities between us as people and in the way we see the game”, he analysed. Gündogan’s bet is strong.
