Last Thursday morning, Ilkay Gundogan arrived at Barcelona training ready to focus on the team’s season-opening match against Valencia. A few hours after training ended, he and his entourage began working on a way out of the club.
The turning point was a crucial meeting with coach Hansi Flick. After training that day, the two Germans had a chat. There was growing uncertainty over Gundogan’s future, with reports in the local media, with some outlets – informed by sources at Barcelona – claiming that his salary was standing in the way of the club’s plans for 2024-25.
Gundogan was aware of the speculation but paid little attention to it. He was determined to stay at Barcelona, who he had joined on a free transfer from Manchester City the previous summer, in a deal that had just been extended until June 2026.
Gundogan and his inner circle knew enough about what it meant to be a Barcelona footballer to understand that political games or media briefings were constant elements in the (sometimes) toxic atmosphere of intrigue that surrounds the club, known as the “Entorno.” It was in this context that the meeting with Flick took place. Gundogan wanted an explanation.
“I spoke to (Gundogan) to see how he felt before the start of the season. I know him well. I appreciate the player and the person he is. We talked about everything, but it will remain between us; it is not your right to know. I have a feeling that he will stay,” Flick said in his press conference ahead of the Valencia match.
Sources close to Gundogan – who, like all the sources mentioned here, has asked to remain anonymous to protect relationships – said he came away from the conversation with a different outlook. That same Thursday evening, Gundogan returned to his home in the city centre, picked up the phone and called Pep Guardiola.
Gundogan left Manchester City to join Barcelona last summer (Pedro Salado/Getty Images)
Last season, Gundogan was Xavi’s most-used player. He played more than 60% of Barcelona’s matches, meaning the two-year contract he signed last summer was automatically extended for another season.
Gundogan has since been told by new coach Flick that he cannot be guaranteed a starting role this season, with the arrival of Dani Olmo – signed for €60m (£50.1m; $66.6m) but yet to be registered – and the rising profiles of both Pedri and Fermin Lopez seen as key factors.
But sources close to Gundogan insist they have not received any clear communication about what role he will play during the 2024-25 season – nor have they been told that his place on the wage bill has become an issue. The message they have received throughout the summer has been that Barcelona are happy with the squad and are not planning any sales – but they were willing to listen to offers.
Gundogan expressed his respect for Flick – the coach who made him captain of the German national team – but after their meeting, the player was unclear about what role he would play. Amid all the uncertainty, he decided to contact his old club.
Gundogan wanted to know if there was any chance of him returning to Manchester City. In his opinion, if he had to look for a new challenge away from Barcelona, this is the only place he wanted to be. Over the summer, clubs in Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia expressed interest, but sources close to the player said that if Manchester City were not an option, he was likely to stay at Barcelona.
Gundogan (with Flick behind him) in action for Barcelona in the Joan Gamper Trophy (Joan Valls/Urbanandsport/NorPhoto via Getty Images)
The conversation between Guardiola and Gundogan did not last long, as Guardiola confirmed that he would be happy to have him back, but asked for time to discuss the matter internally with the decision-makers at Manchester City.
Before Friday’s training session at Manchester City, there was already a consensus to go ahead with Gundogan’s return, and by this stage City’s director of football, Txiki Begiristain, had spoken to the player’s camp.
That Sunday, the day after Barcelona’s 2-1 win over Valencia (Gündogan was not in the squad and Flick’s explanation was the concussion he had suffered in a friendly five days earlier), Gündogan’s agents told Barcelona’s sporting director Deco that they were studying options for a move, without revealing Manchester City’s interest. Deco wanted to move abroad rather than join a rival in Spain, but they knew important discussions were still to come.
Gundogan’s contract with Barcelona was due to expire in two years, so Barcelona would certainly not agree to his departure unless the club paid him a sum of money. And here lies the Catalan club’s stumbling financial problem.
Barcelona had signed Olmo a week earlier, but due to his breach of the salary cap imposed by La Liga (the policy applies to all clubs, with the cap calculated according to revenue), he was not registered for the competition. He was not eligible to play for Valencia.
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Barcelona needed (and still need) to fix the situation by either cutting the wage bill or bringing in more revenue. The team began the summer with plans to sell several players – Ronald Araujo was among the potential buyers before he was injured in the Copa America – but they have yet to raise significant funds in this way.
Initially, Barcelona suggested, in talks with Gundogan’s representatives, that they would demand a fee to allow him to leave, but this was quickly dropped and they agreed to let him go on a free transfer. There would be no fee, but the savings on his wages would help them meet La Liga’s salary cap. Gundogan was among the top three players in the squad, but club sources say his departure alone would not be enough to sign Olmo.
Gundogan’s free transfer was crucial to his move to Manchester City. On Tuesday, the player’s camp informed Deco of their intention to return to the Manchester club, and the story was already public. He had been away from the club for just over a year, but nothing had lost the strength of their relationship. Even during his time at Barcelona, there was evidence of that.
Guardiola’s family helped Gundogan find a home after some difficulties searching for an apartment during his first few weeks in the city. He also met up several times with Manchester City’s Bernardo Silva, one of his best friends in football. Bernardo’s sister Mariana lives in Barcelona, and the players’ wives are very close, and they all attended Mariana’s wedding in Catalonia this summer.
During Euro 2024, Gundogan received love from another Manchester City figure: Jack Grealish. “I can’t explain how good this guy is, man. One of the best players I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing with,” he wrote on Instagram during Germany’s 2-0 win over Hungary, in which Gundogan scored one goal and set up another. The 33-year-old expressed his appreciation for the support at a tense time for him and the national team.
Guardiola and Gundogan after the 2023 FA Cup final (Craig Mercer/MB Media/Getty Images)
Gundogan returned to Barça this summer, after Flick’s team were already in the United States on their pre-season tour. Due to his participation in the European Championship, he was given an extended leave. He was due to join the team in Orlando by the end of July, so he spent some time with his partner in New York the previous week.
Coincidentally, Gundogan met several members of the Manchester City coaching staff in Manhattan during his off days – City were there on a pre-season tour. The player had a nice chat, during which he said he was unlikely to play in the upcoming Barcelona-Manchester City match. Gundogan did not play, as he was still training, but he received a warm welcome at the match from Guardiola, assistant coach Juanma Lillo and all his former team-mates.
It is impossible to separate this move from the relationship between Gundogan and Guardiola. When he called the manager to see if there was an open door for him at Manchester City, there was another topic to discuss.
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Gundogan has already begun to think about his life after retiring from playing. He has been open in the past about his coaching ambitions and began earning his badges during his time at Manchester City. In his phone call with Guardiola last week, he confirmed that he plans to continue educating himself as a future manager and suggested that he might be interested in joining Guardiola’s backroom staff, wherever the 53-year-old is in the near future. The idea has been met with widespread approval.
Their reunion was completed on Wednesday evening, when Gundogan met Guardiola, his brother Pere and Manchester City executives Ferran Soriano and Begiristain at the Taste restaurant they part-own in Manchester, to celebrate.
They will have plenty of opportunities to spend time together. Gundogan still owns the apartment he lived in while in Manchester, next to Guardiola. And his reception at the Etihad on Saturday will certainly be one of respect.
From Barcelona’s perspective, the club is saying goodbye to its most solid player of last season, who scored five goals, provided 14 assists and created the most goalscoring chances of any La Liga player in the 2023-24 season.
When he joined Barcelona from Manchester City, he was convinced by sporting directors Mateu Alemany and Jordi Cruyff, as well as Xavi, who praised the player’s winning mentality and the attitude he would bring to help develop the young generation at Barcelona. A year later, they were all gone.
(Top image: Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images/Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images. Visual design by Eamonn Dalton)
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