This summer, Ilkay Gundogan left Manchester City free to join FC Barcelona. The captain of the Cityzens, who had won everything in England, decided not to extend his contract despite Pep Guardiola’s desire to keep it. A very big blow for Barça therefore who recovered one of the best circles in the world for free. In an interview given to Picture, the German international has explained why he decided not to accept Manchester City’s extension offer. And it’s mostly a matter of timing…
“I’m honest. And a lot of people don’t know that: in the end, it wasn’t a matter of a year or two. There were no problems with the length of the extension. City waited a relatively long time before the talks really intensified. If this had happened a little earlier, the situation would have been different. I don’t want to go into all the details, but that was pretty late in the season. And when it comes to a Champions League quarter-final or semi-final, players want to focus only on sport. I didn’t know what was going to happen next. I couldn’t plan anything. Pep’s appreciation has always been there, but officially there was no movement from the club for a long time.
