Barcelona president contradicts Ilkay Gundogan over reason for summer exit | OneFootball

Barcelona president Joan Laporta has claimed that Ilkay Gundogan’s departure from the club this summer was purely due to ‘sporting reasons’ and had nothing to do with the finances.

Sitting down for a detailed press conference, during which he answered several questions about the club’s situation and the transfer window that they had, Laporta was asked to explain the circumstances that led to Ilkay Gundogan.

The 33-year-old, after all, was allowed to leave for Manchester City just a year after he signed, that too for a free transfer even though he had two years left on his contract.

Gundogan, in the farewell message that he sent to the fans last month, had indicated that he decided to leave the club to help them out financially.

“I have given everything to fight for the team and the club the best possible way in a difficult season and I was looking forward to helping my teammates in the new campaign.

“Now I am leaving in a difficult situation, but if my departure can help the club financially, it makes me a bit less sad.”

Gundogan left Barcelona for Man City. (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)

However, Laporta has contradicted those claims, stating that Gundogan’s exit was purely due to sporting reasons especially because Dani Olmo’s arrival meant the veteran’s role was no longer clear and guaranteed.

‘Ilkay Gundogan is an excellent player and a great person. The year we have been with him has been fantastic. After a meeting with Flick and assessing the situation of the squad, he decided he wanted to leave. It is a sporting decision, exclusively,” he said.

“With the incorporation of Dani Olmo, he was a player who played a similar role to Gündo. It was a sporting decision by the player and the club. I’ve heard that it’s an economic decision, but no.”

Furthermore, he added that there was never any plan from the club’s side to sell important players like Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, and Ansu Fati, as he said:

“We were not planning to sell these players. We didn’t plan to sell these players. We think they can give Barça many matches of glory.”

Laporta has already come under fire from a section of supporters for his words in the past, wherein he iterated that Barcelona’s financial situation was set to return to normalcy which would allow them to make big signings only for things to turn out to be starkly different.

The statement regarding Gundogan’s exit are unlikely to go down too well either.

Source: Mundo Deportivo