İlkay Gündoğan, the 33-year-old former German captain, is coming back to Manchester City after a one-year stint at FC Barcelona. Gündoğan, who recently retired from international football, had spent seven seasons at Manchester City before leaving for Barcelona last year.
The German midfielder has won five Premier League titles and a UEFA Champions League title with the Cityzens. He played in 51 matches for Barcelona last season and scored five goals for the Catalan club.
İlkay Gündoğan not as Influental at Barcelona
Gündoğan appeared in 304 matches for Manchester City and scored 60 goals for them. Along with Kevin de Bruyne and Bernardo Silva, he was the mainstay of the midfield of Pep Guardiola’s team. He started as a holding midfielder for the team, but became a box-to-box one for them as time progressed.
Gündoğan’s darting forward runs into the opposition penalty box gave the Cityzens a valuable attacking edge. He scored a number of valuable goals for the club, the most notable ones being his brace against Aston Villa on the last day of the 2021/22 season to win the league title for them.
However, as Manchester City signed Mateo Kovačić and Mattheus Nunes, they felt the need of offloading Gündoğan. As things turned out, it was not a beneficial decision for either the player or the club, though the Cityzens still managed to win the Premier League title last season.
Gündoğan started fairly regularly for Barca, but was not quite as impactful as he was for Manchester City. He was surrounded by some top midfielders like Pedri, Gavi and Frenkie De Jong, but could not quite perform as per expectations for the Catalans. His performance left something to be desired.
Gündoğan to Face Stiff Competition for Starting XI at Manchester City
Gündoğan might have to face stiff competition to feature in the starting XI. Aside from Kovačić and Nunes, there will be the regular starters like Rodri, de Bruyne and Bernardo Silva vying for the three positions in the central areas of the midfield.
Hence, it will not be easy for the German midfielder to make it to the starting XI. It will require some consistently good performance from him to make it to the playing XI. It will not be that easy for him to perform consistently at his age.
However, Gündoğan’s arrival will provide Guardiola with another genuine goal-scoring option in his midfield. The Cityzens have been a bit too dependent on Rodri to make those surging runs with the ball upfront of late.
With Gündoğan in the team, City will have another player capable of making those runs and being around the opposition penalty box to pounce on any pass played by his teammates in that area. Therefore, it should be beneficial for the English champions in their bid to win their fifth Premier League title in a row. It remains to be seen whether the Sky Blues are able to achieve that magnificent feat and also whether Gündoğan plays a key role in it.