Barcelona were able to ‘seduce’ Manchester City’s Ilkay Gündogan into moving to the Camp Nou this summer as Pep Guardiola and Txiki Begiristain disagreed over what to do with the German.
That’s according to El Pais, who say Manchester City ‘dragging their feet’ allowing the Catalans to move in and sign him.
Gündogan moved to Barcelona on a free transfer in the summer, bringing an end to a seven-year spell at the Etihad that culminated in the Champions League win and treble last season.
His future at Manchester City had been in question for several months, with a continued debate about whether the club would offer him a new contract given his importance to the team clashing against their policy of not offering long-term deals to players over a certain age.
El Pais say that caused something of a problem at the Etihad, as director of football Txiki Begiristain ‘was not willing’ to extend Gündogan’s deal for three years.
This saw him clash with manager Pep Guardiola as he wanted the German to remain in his team and considered him ‘key’, particularly to their eventual treble.
Their opinions finally coincided but by that point it was too late as Barcelona had stepped in and Jordi Cruyff had been on the phone to Gündogan.
This ‘unexpected call’ had proven to be a masterstroke as it ‘there was no one better’ than a professed football lover and the son of the creator of the ‘Dream Team’ to seduce Gündogan to leave Manchester City.
The midfielder had not been convinced about an exit before than but quickly changed his mind and thus ended up moving to the Camp Nou on a free transfer.
He’s now establishing himself as a key player for Xavi, who is delighted to have him and benefitting from City’s indecisiveness.
