Ilkay Gundogan's wife denies "fake news" as she announces marriage to Man City star

The wife of Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan has rubbished claims that the German recently held talks with Real Madrid over a potential summer transfer.

Earlier this week, Gundogan was reportedly pictured heading to Madrid on a private plane from Manchester earlier this week following claims that City were looking to sell him at the end of the season, with his contract at the Etihad Stadium due to expire at the end of next season.

However, Gundogan’s partner Sara Benamira was quick to rubbish those claims on her Instagram account and has instead announced that the couple recently got married.

"We are married. We are really happy… can’t wait to celebrate with our families and friends. Gundos," read the joint Instagram post.

That was said to be an updated post, with GOAL reporting that Benamira edited the post. The original version reportedly read: "We are married. We are really happy… we wanted to keep it private but unfortunately after this fake news about my husband I felt forced to say the truth.”

Benamira also posted an Instagram story that showed a photo of her and Gundogan in direct response to the recent rumours linking the 31-year-old German with a summer switch to Real Madrid, who take on Liverpool in the Champions League final later this month in Paris. "Never been in Madrid,” Benamira posted. “Sometimes private reason is just not football."

Gundogan was Pep Guardiola’s first signing at City when the Spaniard took the reins of the club from Manuel Pellegrini in 2016. Since Gundogan’s move to the Etihad Stadium from Borussia Dortmund, Gundogan has scored 34 goals in 156 Premier League games, with the midfielder notching up 252 appearances in all competitions.

In that time, Gundogan has helped