Ílkay Gündogan is already in Manchester to sign his new contract with Manchester City. The footballer agreed to leave FC Barcelona after a season in which he played 51 games (he only missed a couple due to injury), scoring 5 goals and 14 assists. Although he had a contract until 2026, the midfielder preferred to return to the club where he won practically everything between 2017 and 2023, including the Champions League.
In that sense, the debate opens on who wins more with the return of the 33-year-old player. On the one hand, Barça is satisfied with the operation, since despite not receiving money for his departure, it manages to get rid of a high salary and an older footballer who, in his first season, left some doubts with his performance and adaptation. , especially in terms of understanding off the field with various teammates.
The former German captain had a gross turnover of 18 million euros per year, with which the club frees up enough salary margin to register Dani Olmo. Furthermore, the former '22' culé agreed to leave in a friendly manner... matches from the previous year). The bad thing, however, is that Hansi Flick loses one of the pieces that he considered key to his idea of the game, beyond the friction that both had in the German team.
In the case of City, there is also conformity in being able to recover a key player for Pep Guardiola. Ílkay was captain of the 'sky blue' team in his last two seasons, lifting the Champions League in Istanbul before finishing his contract. Furthermore, his return is at 'zero cost', in the same way he left last summer. Hence, in general terms, both culés and 'cityzens' have given the green light to the negotiations in a short time.