Ilkay Gundogan sends message to Man City fans as Barcelona transfer confirmed

Here are your Manchester City headlines for the evening of Monday, June 26, 2023.

Ilkay Gundogan says he will always be a Blue after his free transfer to Barcelona was confirmed.

Gundogan has called time on his seven-year spell at City, leaving on a high after securing the treble this season. He turned down City's offer of a one-year contract with the option of a second, with Barcelona offering more security for his young family.

The German will be sorely missed at City, especially after this season's exploits follow last year's brace to secure the Premier League title on the final day, and he will take some replacing in the squad. As Txiki Begiristain and the recruitment team plan to try and move on, Gundogan has penned an emotional letter to the club after deciding to leave that confirms a part of him will always be at City.

Here's what he said.

Ilkay Gundogan made his own fairytale finish at Manchester City after an alternative ending that threatened to be short on the sentiment he had earned.

Gundogan will always be loved at the club and in Manchester for what he has done over the last seven years, from helping out those who are less fortunate in the city without a fuss to scoring the goals to rescue one Premier League title and then captaining Pep Guardiola's side to the Treble. As moments go, it was always going to be hard to top lifting the Champions League for the first time in the country of his parents' birth to write his name further into the record books.

Perhaps it would always have been the point for Gundogan to depart, but his decision was made easier by the reluctance of City to offer what he wanted in the first place. Despite the deep admiration for him as a player and skipper, there was no sign of