Pep Guardiola comments on Ilkay Gundogan’s future as Galatasaray reach contract agreement | OneFootball

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has delivered his verdict on Ilkay Gundogan’s future at the club after Galatasaray reportedly agreed a contract with the midfielder.

The former Germany international turns 35 in October and has been linked with a move to Turkey ahead of the new campaign as Manchester City progress their summer rebuild under newly-appointed director of football Hugo Viana.

City have already let Kevin De Bruyne leave at the end of his contract and the Belgian has since joined Napoli on a free transfer, agreeing a two-year deal with the recently-crowned Italian champions after helping Guardiola and co to a third-place Premier League finish.

Manchester City have already added Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki to their attacking midfield ranks and with the return of Ballon d’Or winner Rodri from a lengthy ACL layoff, there needs to be a departure or two to make room in the squad.

City have shown great intent early on in the summer transfer window and have added fresh blood to boost Guardiola’s prospects and give the Blues a greater chance of going all the way in the FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.

De Bruyne has been the first major departure in what is a crossroads summer for the 2023 treble winners, who should have been more aggressive in last summer’s transfer market as admitted by club chairman Khaldoon Al Mubarak.

Frailties in defence and a serious lack of depth forced City to enter the January market and spend £181.5 million to land Nico Gonzalez, Omar Marmoush, Abdukodir Khusanov and Vitor Reis.

In the first 10 days of June, Manchester City picked up right where they left off in January and added a new quartet to their ranks for around £110 million – aiming to challenge on all fronts next season after a sub-standard 2024-25 campaign by all accounts.

Jack Grealish, Kyle Walker and Kalvin Phillips are all expected to find new clubs before the start of the new season – having all been left out of the Club World Cup squad by Guardiola, who has also broken his own mantra by selecting Bernardo Silva after being let down by former club captain Walker, who joined AC Milan in January.

Gundogan has been linked with a transfer to Galatasaray in the last week following long-standing interest from the Turkish giants, who were also interested in signing Silva – before the Portugal international confirmed he will be staying at Manchester City next season, also taking the armband from Walker.

The six-time Premier League winner, who was Guardiola’s first signing at the Etihad Stadium, returned to the club last summer after a brief spell at Barcelona. Gundogan met the conditions for an automatic one-year renewal as laid out in his contract in the closing months of the season, with Guardiola also confirming he expects the German to stay put past the summer.

However, as Manchester City prepare for their second Club World Cup group-stage tie against Al Ain on Sunday evening, Gundogan faces a dilemma as limited game time looms for the seasoned midfielder in Manchester next term.

City have a rich stock of options in midfield and Guardiola – as loyal he is to his senior players – will know that a lack of pace and legs in the middle of the park was a key reason for his side’s substantial drop-off last season.

Speaking on Gundogan’s future ahead of City’s upcoming Club World Cup fixture, Guardiola said: “No news, good news. I don’t know anything, I didn’t speak with him (Gundogan), and if he will not be part he would not be here.

“But at the same time, we have – right now – a long squad, too many players, so we cannot go with 26, 27 players this season because there would be more without playing, and step by step maybe a few players are going to more. But right now, Ilkay (Gundogan) is absolutely part of my mind and the team.”