Barcelona and Ilkay Gundogan are ready to part ways this month, following talks between the German international and the club’s hierarchy.
It emerged over the weekend that his future at the club was in some doubt after he was left out of Barca’s matchday squad for their 2-1 victory over Valencia on Saturday.
”I know him very well,” Barca head coach Hansi Flick stated after the match. “I appreciate the player and the person he is. We spoke about everything, but it will stay between us, it’s not for you to know. I have a feeling he will stay.”
Ilkay Gundogan prefers to join Man City or Fenerbahce
The 33-year-old has a year left on his current deal which he signed last summer after deciding to quit Manchester City last summer. It now remains to be seen if he will be seeing out the remainder of his deal in Catalunya as he and his representatives met with sporting director Deco at the start of this month to discuss his future.
Following those talks, HITC is told that Gundogan was given the go-ahead to seek a new club in the coming weeks before the deadline closes across Europe’s main leagues at the end of August.
We understand that Gundogan’s representatives have been inundated with offers to talk to Gundogan, with clubs in Germany, Turkey and the Middle East all keen to make offers.
However, sources with knowledge of the situation have informed HITC that Gundogan has already laid out his preferences to his camp. We can confirm that as it stands Gundogan wants to either return to City or move to Turkey with Fenerbahce.
Fener’s rivals Galatasaray also have an interest in Gundogan, and can’t be discounted at this stage.
And HITC is told that both City and Fener have already been contacted by intermediaries on the deal and the response from both was positive – indeed it is believed both Pep Guardiola and Jose Mourinho have given their initial approvals to their clubs to pursue a deal.
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City are in the market for a midfielder and a forward, but they were only looking at bringing in the right fits for the squad, and there is little doubt that Gundogan ticks that box for the Cityzens.
We can confirm that Fenerbahce are also intrigued by the prospect of landing Gundogan – given they are in the market for a new midfielder and have already held talks with the likes of Sofyan Amrabat and Scott McTominay.
Gundogan has family ties to Turkish giants
Fener have emerged as an option, indeed Gundogan confirmed earlier this summer that he been watching their Champions League qualification closely.
He has also previously admitted that the majority of his family grew up as Galatasaray fans, but his mother was a Fener fan.
He told the Players’ Tribune: “I mean, I grew up in Gelsenkirchen with Turkish parents, and whenever a Turkish team played in Europe, my family would stop whatever they were doing. They would cheer on the team like their lives depended on it.
“I’ll never forget when Galatasaray won the UEFA Cup in 2000. I was nine years old. My whole family are actually Galatasaray fans, except my mum, who is Fenerbahce!”
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