Never go back to your ex? Why Ilkay Gundogan to Man City is a perfect deal for all involved
They say you should never go back to your ex but that old adage is being destroyed by the return of Ilkay Gundogan to Manchester City after just a year away. Frankly, it’s a perfect transfer for the player and both clubs.
The man who lifted the Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League in a historic Treble-winning campaign is returning to Man City after one year at Barcelona. Ilkay Gundogan has reportedly agreed a free transfer to reunite with Pep Guardiola, helping the La Liga giants and their financial woes in the process.
This isn’t a charitable donation. Guardiola wanted to keep Gundogan last year but the German allowed his contract to expire so he could join Barcelona for nothing. It was a nice transfer for a player who had seven spectacular years in Manchester, winning trophy after trophy on his way to eventually becoming club captain and leaving a legend.
Gundogan had a productive 2023/24 in Catalonia, providing 19 goal contributions in 51 appearances under Xavi before captaining Germany at the European Championship in his home country. He is still an exceptional player, missing only 65 minutes of his side’s Champions League campaign, the vast majority of which came in a dead-rubber group game against Royal Antwerp. Gundogan also started 33 times in La Liga. So why let him leave? Well, because Barcelona are desperate and silly.
Club president Joan Laporta has done an excellent job of bringing in top players for nothing, although the lure of playing for Barcelona does a lot of the negotiating for him. From Gundogan to Andreas Christensen, these signings have been crucial in keeping the Blaugrana competitive, even winning La Liga in 2023 despite their dismal financial situation. This is a situation so dismal it forced them to let the greatest player of all time, Lionel Messi, walk two years before.
The coronavirus pandemic didn’t help but the club’s financial downfall runs a lot deeper. Laporta’s constant desire to freshen up the first-team squad means those who have joined for diddly-squat are far from safe. Despite his importance, Gundogan was made available for transfer to help register £50million summer signing Dani Olmo, with Barca eager to sign an elite left-winger as well.
Man City are more than happy to take Gundogan off their hands and Gundogan is more than happy to return to Man City, snubbing reported interest from Saudi Arabia and MLS in the process.
His departure gives Barca some more financial wiggle room with his high salary off the books and Hansi Flick has plenty of depth in the middle of the park. It’s a transfer that probably makes the Catalan club slightly weaker on the pitch but sometimes you have got to break some eggs to make an omelette.
One team getting stronger on the pitch is Man City because Gundogan was pretty fantastic for them. And of course He Knows The Club, having won five Premier League titles there.
The 33-year-old is far from a luxury signing; he should feature heavily for City. In fact, he might just walk straight into the starting XI. It really is the perfect arrangement.
His clutch goalscoring, combined with his leadership and incredible technical ability, make the best team in the country – managed by the best coach in the world – better. While it is perfect for those involved, it is frustrating for City’s rivals, namely Arsenal, who reportedly wanted to sign Gundogan last summer.
What this transfer does emphasise is how annoyingly good Man City are at this transfer malarkey. Even when they don’t get their way and lose an important player, they just sign him back for nothing 12 months later. You can talk all night about the 115 charges but this mob are transfer experts. They are 10th in the five-year Premier League net-spend table, FFS. That places them below Nottingham Forest, who have only been in the top flight for two years.
From big money on Kevin De Bruyne and Ruben Dias to smaller amounts on Manuel Akanji and now Gundogan, Guardiola and his transfer team very rarely get signings wrong. And even when they are looking a little light in a position, City land on their feet, having their former captain fall into their lap.
Title rivals Arsenal are getting stronger themselves by adding Riccardo Calafiori and Mikel Merino but City are getting a proven winner and a club legend still at the top of his game for absolutely nothing. They are annoyingly brilliant at this game and might be landing the signing of the summer in Gundogan, while simultaneously doing Guardiola’s old club a favour.
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