European giants ‘hopeful’ of signing Manchester City midfielder this summer | OneFootball

Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan could be headed for the exit door in the coming weeks just 12 months on from re-joining the club.

It is the latest development in a busy summer transfer window for Hugo Viana at Manchester City, with the Portuguese official only in his first market since taking on the position of director of football from Txiki Begiristain.

Following on from four first-team signings secured during the January window, City moved with intent to welcome in another quartet of fresh faces prior to the start of the FIFA Club World Cup, including a new third-choice goalkeeper to replace out-of-contract Scott Carson.

Those arrivals included a new left-sided full-back in Rayan Ait-Nouri from Wolves, a new attacking midfielder largely to replace Kevin De Bruyne, and a No8 in AC Milan’s Tijjani Reijnders to bring in new energy in a crucial area of the pitch.

But with Pep Guardiola indicating a firm belief in retaining a relatively small squad for the forthcoming campaign, many have expected departures to follow immediately after the Club World Cup, and the latest understanding concerns midfield.

That is according to the information of MailSport’s Jack Gaughan, who reports that Galatasaray are hopeful of signing Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan this summer, despite the German midfielder recently triggering a one-year extension in his Etihad Stadium contract.

Having re-joined the club from FC Barcelona only last summer, Gundogan’s initial 12-month deal would automatically extend by a further year depending on the veteran midfielder registering a pre-determined number of appearances across the season.

Despite being in contract, the report insists that interest from the reigning Turkish champions stands, and that the club view the 34-year-old as ‘ideal’ to strengthen their midfield having already signed Leroy Sane from Bayern Munich.

Further exits could follow the former Germany international through the doors of the Etihad Stadium following the conclusion of the ongoing FIFA Club World Cup, with a number of names’ futures uncertain.

One of the most high-profile exits is likely to be Jack Grealish, who remains out of Pep Guardiola’s current plans and away from the squad in the United States, as all parties agreed to weigh up options during the ongoing tournament.

Kyle Walker is also expected to depart after his short-term loan at AC Milan ended without the Italian club actioning their option to buy the 35-year-old for a fee of around €5 million, while Ederson is understood to be open to a move to Saudi Arabia.