Man City's £50m transfer decision as Liverpool spot Ilkay Gundogan opportunity

Ilkay Gundogan returned to the Etihad Stadium on Saturday to much fuss and fanfare.

The popular midfielder re-signed for Manchester City on Friday, joining on a free transfer from Barcelona, and made his second debut off the bench in the 4-1 Premier League win over Ipswich Town. But one man who might not have been so overjoyed at the 33-year-old's return was Matheus Nunes.

On Saturday, the Portugal international had to first watch John Stones replace the injured Mateo Kovacic when City needed a screen in midfield, before Gundogan came on for the closing quarter. Nunes had to wait until added time to make a late cameo with his place in the pecking order clear to see, and all this with midfield lynchpin Rodri still absent.

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The writing is surely on the wall for Nunes. Signed for a hefty £51m last summer, he did not settle anywhere near as well as Kovacic did in his debut season and the summer didn't help him either; called up as a late replacement for the Portugal squad meant he barely played at the Euros but also missed nearly a month of pre-season with Guardiola.

Nunes was already facing extra scrutiny from the young faces coming through in the squad but Gundogan will automatically be more trusted and limit his game time further. There is still a chance Nunes breaks free and puts his mark on the squad this season, but that will be considerably reduced now Gundogan has joined.

And according to the Daily Star, Newcastle have been keeping an eye on his situation, but can only offer a loan deal at this stage of the window. Liverpool and Chelsea showed interest