Barcelona’s Ilkay Gündogan to return to Manchester City on free transfer

Ilkay Gündogan will return to Manchester City on a free transfer, 12 months after leaving the club for Barcelona. The 33-year-old, captain when City won the treble in 2023, will join on an initial one-year deal with an option for a second.

Having come to see that Barcelona did not want him to continue at the Camp Nou, Gündogan instigated contact with Pep Guardiola, whom he played under for seven years at City, and the basis of an agreement was reached swiftly. Gündogan has waived the remaining two years of his salary in Catalonia. The deal is expected to be formally completed in the coming hours.

Barcelona have a surplus of players in the No 10 position, with Dani Olmo arriving to join Pedri, Fermín López and Pablo Torre, and with Gündogan not guaranteed a starting place this season by the new head coach, Hansi Flick, his exit has more of an economic explanation than a footballing one.

Signed by the former sporting director Jordi Cruyff with the backing of the then-coach Xavi Hernández, Gündogan joined Barcelona in June 2023 on a free transfer, saying: “It was my childhood dream.” In his debut season he played more games and more minutes than anyone else in the squad, scoring five goals and providing 14 assists in all competitions.

Barcelona did not directly inform Gündogan, who announced his retirement from international football this week having captained Germany to the quarter-finals of Euro 2024, that they wanted him to depart. The current sporting director, Deco, did not tell him to find a club and nor did Flick say that he would not play.

However, given the financial difficulties at the club, essentially everyone except Lamine Yamal is for sale. Where other players, such as Frenkie de Jong and Raphinha, have resisted the pressure and refused to move, Gündogan informed Barcelona that he would accept a departure if the move was right. He made contact with City last week.

Gündogan was Barcelona’s third highest earner after Robert Lewandowski and De Jong, on a little under €20m (£17m) a year. His contract initially ran until 2025 but an automatic one year extension had been triggered after he played more than 60% of their games last season. He has agreed not to be paid for either of his remaining seasons, saving Barça €40m (£34m).

Gündogan joined the club in June 2016, becoming Guardiola’s first signing as City manager, and proved a huge success during his time there, winning five Premier League titles, two FA Cups, four League Cups and the Champions League.