Ilkay Gündogan wants to put an end to his time at FC Barcelona . The German midfielder has said enough and has already informed both the coaching staff and the sporting department of his desire to agree on an exit before the end of the current summer transfer market.
The tensions between Ilkay Gündogan and Barça are nothing new. Over the last few months, rumours surrounding the German midfielder’s sporting future have been a constant. As he approaches his 34th birthday, and despite being one of the most outstanding players last season, the club has not hidden the fact that if a good offer were to arrive for the German international, there would be no problem in opening the doors and freeing up one of the most important signings.
In spite of all this, Gündogan and his entourage have not tired of repeating that they are happy at Barcelona and that their only desire is to fulfil his contract. The alleged offers from Saudi Arabia and Turkey have never materialised.
The events of the last few days have precipitated the events. While Barça insisted on the need to arrange some important departure to ease internal tensions and facilitate the registration of the players still pending, Ilkay took a step forward. SPORT has confirmed that the footballer has expressed the desire to leave the Barça dressing room. Flick is already aware of this, as is Deco.
Hours before the start of the season against Valencia, Gündogan was surprisingly dropped from the list of players called up to travel to Mestalla. The club has argued that the player’s absence is due to physical problems. Regardless of the blow suffered in the Gamper and its subsequent after-effects, Ilkay’s absence coincides with the hours before negotiating his departure.
Gündogan is a player with a wide market. From Turkey, the president of Galatasaray has repeatedly expressed his personal desire to sign the German player one day. In recent days, Mourinho’s Fenerbahce has also assured that if the operation is feasible, they will do everything possible to close the arrival of the midfielder. And, as if that were not enough, in Saudi Arabia there are different emissaries who during the last year have regularly sounded out Ilkay’s willingness to try the Saudi adventure.
Barça are keeping quiet for now, although it is assumed that in addition to saving the player’s significant salary, they will try to get some kind of financial compensation. Gündogan is a key player, but there is no doubt that there are more than enough players in the current squad to fill his position, especially after the arrival of Dani Olmo.
