According to latest reports, Barcelona are preparing a £50m bid for Manchester City‘s German midfielder Ilkay Gundogan. The 27-year-old was Guardiola’s prime signing at the Etihad and played a good role in their title win last season. The Citizens went on to secure the Premier League title with a record number of points and also secured the League Cup capping off a near perfect season for Pep Guardiola.
Likewise, Barcelona too went on to win their domestic title comfortably and also secured the Copa Del Rey. However, they will be losing the services of Andres Iniesta as he went on to join Japanese outfit Vissel Kobe to play out the fag end of his career and that will certainly be a cause for concern for them.
The Catalonian outfit will be looking to replace Iniesta and it seems like they have zeroed in on the German midfielder. Gundogan made 49 appearances in all competitions last season. However, quite a few of those appearances were from the bench as he failed to dislodge the likes of David Silva, Fernandinho and Kevin De Bruyne to warrant a regular slot in the playing eleven. Nevertheless, he still played a crucial part every now and then and he will certainly be in Guardiola’s plan for the future.
The German is currently in Russia and is set to play some sort of role in Germany’s title defence. His time at the Etihad has been plagued with injuries and there was a moment when everyone questioned Guardiola for signing an injury prone player like him. But slowly the former Borussia Dortmund went on to justify his selection.
Gundogan is an intelligent midfielder who keep things ticking in the middle of the park. He has good energy on the pitch and has an eye for a defence-splitting pass. He is not shy of helping his team out defensively and one feels that he will easily settle into Barcelona’s playing style.
Barcelona would have thought Phillipe Coutinho could be a good long-term replacement for Andres Iniesta but the Brazilian has done well in a more advanced role and the Blaugrana are in need of an anchor midfielder who can keep things flowing in midfield.
They are heavily dependent upon the likes of Ivan Rakitic and Sergio Busquets. Andre Gomes has failed to establish himself at Camp Nou and has often struggled whenever he has been on the pitch for them. Gundogan seems to be an important player in Guardiola’s setup but a £50m bid will certainly be tempting for the 27-year-old. But City is not a team who are in need of money and it might well happen that he will continue his stint at Etihad under Pep Guardiola.
