Pep Guardiola reveals one-year Manchester City contract extension for veteran central midfielder | OneFootball

Ilkay Gundogan has seen a contract extension clause in his Manchester City contract automatically triggered, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2026.

The former Germany international was brought back to the Etihad Stadium just one year on from leaving the club on a free transfer off the back of a historic Treble winning campaign in the 2022/23 season.

Complications with finances at FC Barcelona saw Gundogan become available last summer, leaving Manchester City as the best possible route away as bosses at the Etihad club moved swiftly to finalise a return on a free transfer.

While the club’s history-making former captain only signed on for an initial one-year term within Pep Guardiola’s squad, terms in his deal specified that should he feature in a certain percentage of matches then his contract would automatically be extended by a year.

Now, speaking to reporters after Manchester City’s 5-2 victory over Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon, Guardiola revealed the extension of Gundogan’s contract having registered the required amount of outings.

“He has one more year contract, definitely. What’s going to happen (in the summer), I don’t know, but he has one more year contract now,” Guardiola said from the Etihad Stadium.

“The Gundo from Leicester, the Gundo from Bournemouth, the Gundo from today (vs Crystal Palace) is the Gundo I remember, when we won the Treble and Quadruple and an important player,” he continued.

“So his activity, his pace, his defensive intelligence arrived. Gundo has been with us massively. And as a team we could not help him, because it’s not about you, you, you.

“Everyone was down, was below, because the team was not playing good. When the team plays good, the individuals rise. Without that, in modern football you can not do it.”

It does of course remain to be seen whether all parties will honour the idea of retaining Gundogan for a further 12 months, particularly at a time when the club are eyeing a rebuild of its midfield options.

Manchester City are expected to bring in a number of new faces during the summer transfer window, led by newly-appointed sporting director Hugo Viana – who will also be tasked with replacing Kevin De Bruyne in the off-season.