Ilkay Gündogan departs Manchester City with legend status secured

I lkay Gündogan arrived at Manchester City injured and his first season ended before Christmas because of a torn cruciate ligament. It was an inauspicious start for the German but he leaves seven years later as the key component in a historic treble-winning side.

Pep Guardiola knew the value of the midfielder and made him his first City signing in the summer of 2016 for a measly £20m from Borussia Dortmund. Even though he has joined Barcelona for nothing, City know they got a bargain, and Gündogan will forever be grateful for the five Premier League titles, two FA Cups, four League Cups and, most importantly, the final chapter: a Champions League triumph.

It is best to start at the end. Erling Haaland has made the majority of the headlines for his ludicrous scoring record after following in Gündogan’s footsteps by leaving Dortmund for Manchester, but behind him the midfielder has been the one pulling the strings and driving City to success. In the final weeks of the season, when the title was in the balance, Gündogan scored twice against Leeds and Everton to ensure City grew the gap over Arsenal. “I’d like to say, you just said you don’t think you’re a special player, you are a special player,” Roy Keane told Gündogan after sealing his latest title. A sign of how humble the departing City man is and the high regard football holds him in.

This was not the first time he had been integral in a Premier League title triumph, as his medal collection suggests. The previous season, with City looking in danger of a catastrophic failure at home on the final day against Aston Villa to gift the title to Liverpool, Gündogan came off the bench and scored twice to help turn things around and seal a dramatic victory.

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