Ilkay Gundogan's final act as Man City captain sums up his - and Pep Guardiola's - legacy

Earlier this year, Pep Guardiola said Ilkay Gundogan can do whatever he wants with his future after his title-winning exploits in 2022.

If all the power was in Gundogan's hands in February, when Guardiola made that comment, then Manchester City will have had even less chance to persuade their influential captain to stay after his end to the season 12 months on.

Gundogan got City over the line with back-to-back braces to secure the Premier League title this season, scoring another two goals in the biggest FA Cup final in memory (against rivals Manchester United no less) and then led his side to the Champions League title in Istanbul for the first time.

Those goals vs Aston Villa were enough to write Gundogan's name in the City history books, anyway, but his role in their first-ever treble has underlined it and will earn him his own chapter. Who knows, maybe even a statue?

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Guardiola and City initially took the stance that Gundogan would choose to stay or not, but as the midfielder's performances grew and the important goals kept coming, those noises from the club turned into outright admissions that they wanted him to stay. That delay in realising how pivotal he was to the club may have proved to be their downfall as City are set to lose the battle to keep him as Gundogan is bound for Barcelona on a free transfer.

His expected exit follows a pattern of club legends leaving when they still have something to give, and something they want to achieve in their careers. David Silva and Vincent Kompany left on their own terms, so did Fernandinho, and now Gundogan has opted to leave on the highest of possible highs. After all, where could he