Ilkay Gundogan has been a regular for Manchester City this season, important for Pep Guardiola and wearing the captain’s armband for the club.
His contract expires at the end of the current campaign, and like he often has, the midfielder is leaving a renewal late. Gundogan has done this at repeated times throughout his career and in the past it’s helped him get better deals than he perhaps otherwise would have received.
The situation has also encouraged transfer rumours, and that’s the case again this time.
Mundo Deportivo report the midfielder is now a ‘January objective’ for Barcelona, who are yet again looking for a new midfielder. Bernardo Silva has been the long term target, but it’s thought he’d be difficult, or even impossible, to sign in the winter market.
There’s more hope when it comes to Gundogan, precisely because of his contract situation with Manchester City. However, it’s got to be considered unlikely Guardiola would sanction a move in the winter market.
On top of that, over at Sport, another Catalan newspaper, it’s stated Barcelona’s priority for January is a right-back and a midfielder will likely have to wait until the summer.
