Barcelona have an agreement with Manchester City captain – report | OneFootball

After it emerged that Inigo Martinez had signed a two-year contract to join Barcelona in the summer, Victor Malo of Culemania is reporting that the Catalans have bagged their second free transfer of the summer in the form of Manchester City captain Ilkay Gundogan.

This development comes after Gundogan’s agent was spotted at the Barça offices last night where he had a meeting with director Mateu Alemany.

Gundogan has emerged as one of Barcelona’s priority targets heading into the summer window. The 32-year-old will become a free agent at the end of the season and looks primed to leave Manchester City after seven successful years at the club.

Barça have been working on signing the German international for a while now. Their resolve to sign him is understood to have further strengthened after watching City’s UEFA Champions League clash against Bayern Munich earlier this week, where he was very good.

And now, it is being claimed that there is an agreement between the two parties over a summer move and the operation is as good as done.

The report states that the former Borussia Dortmund ace is a fan of Barcelona and wants to join the club even if it means taking a salary cut.

Apart from Victor Malo, AS journalist Javi Miguel (via Barça Times) has also stated that Gundogan’s signing is almost done. The midfielder has said yes to Barcelona and the operation will now depend on the Financial Fair Play status.

Meanwhile, Victor Malo specifies that while there may be an agreement with both Gundogan and Martinez, both deals will not be announced officially until the end of the season. In fact, there could be further delays as well due to the FFP situation.

So, as things stand, Barcelona seem to have pulled off another free transfer signing for the summer, although confirmation from more sources is awaited.

Gundogan, given his experience and leadership, coupled with his versatility, has the potential to be a solid short-term signing for Xavi & co.