Ilkay Gündogan, captain of Manchester City, has chosen Barça as a destination in the final stretch of his decorated career, in which the icing on the cake of the World Cup is missing. When Germany won it in 2014, the midfielder of Turkish descent was playing for Borussia Dortmund and had built the excellent reputation that has followed him ever since: intelligent footballer, line connector, shrewd at moving and finding space, confident on the ball and with an innate ease to break away, reach the area and surprise defenses. City owes some of his recent great successes to this finisher Gündogan, but his stability has been just as essential to build and give continuity to the game. A serious back injury prevented him from playing in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, but Pep Guardiola, Bayern's coach at the time, had him among his favorite players in the Bundesliga. When the Catalan coach began his cycle at City in 2016, Gündogan was his first signing.
Gundogan's decision at a time of singular turmoil in the soccer market is significant. Real Madrid have signed Englishman Bellingham for 120 million euros, the first big deal of the season, and Kylian Mbappé has declared that his stay at PSG will end in June 2024, a strategic move that places him in a position of extreme strength this summer. Either PSG transfers him or next year he will not receive a euro. Mbappé will be free. Free to go where? All signs point to him landing at Real Madrid, but the coming months are set to be especially turbulent. The tectonic waves that Saudi immersion in the professional golf circuit has caused are beginning to register in football.
Mbappé will not play next season in Saudi Arabia, a golden destination for veteran stars and players who want to cover their kidneys with one last big contract, without forgetting the world of intermediaries, enthusiastic about the juicy vein that the oil fishing ground opens for them. Jorge Mendes has a mine in front. He begins to move players to the Middle East, in the case of the Portuguese Rubén Neves, who is not a football retiree. The Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder has 26 years and a half a career ahead of him. One or two seasons in Saudi Arabia, a lot of money and then we'll see. What Mendes recommends in this new commercial football situation.
Gundogan will turn 33 in October, a perfect age to enroll in the luxurious exoticism of Saudi football. Guardiola wanted him one more season at City. He knows that he is leaving an exemplary footballer, one of those who works as a coach before becoming one. His silent rise in the squad led him to the team captaincy. In the near future, Gundogan is expected to lead a good team. His new experience at Barça will come in handy. He changes the European champion for a team that intends to occupy the place that he has abandoned in recent years. The challenge promises.
Barça lacks money to fight with Madrid or the main English clubs in the market ring, but the signing of Gündogan demonstrates his ability to attract a certain type of player: current, capable of contributing substantial qualities to the team and sustaining the growth of the large group of young people who have excelled in the last two years. Lewandowski has fulfilled this role perfectly. Now it is Gündogan's turn, in another position, especially critical at Barça, where the media have been and will be the banner of his football model. In this case, both parties congratulate each other: a player who knows Latin arrives at Barça and Gündogan ends up in a team without the resources of City, but with a world to conquer.
