Ilkay Gundogan has decided to turn down a move to Barcelona to remain with Manchester City after the German helped fire his side to a fifth Premier League title in six years over the weekend.
The Cityzens clinched their fifth Premier League title in six seasons without even kicking a ball this weekend as long-time challengers Arsenal lost 1-0 away to Nottingham Forest courtesy of a goal from Taiyo Awoniyi.
It means that Gundogan’s side, who still have two games in hand on Mikel Arteta’s side, have an unassailable four-point lead ahead of the last game of the season next weekend, and could stretch that to a mammoth ten points should they win against Chelsea and Brighton in the next five days.
The German has been instrumental in their late-season push, scoring twice and grabbing two assists in their last four games to help them to victories.
But it was feared that he may leave the club on a free at the end of the campaign, with his contract up at the end of the season and reported interest from Barcelona.
That is no longer the case. According to the Times, Gundogan is now ‘edging towards committing his future to Manchester City’ after they increased their contract offer to hand him a two year deal, rather than the initial one year deal that they had proposed.
It means that Barcelona will have to look elsewhere for reinforcements, amid reported interest in Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves, though he will be far more pricey than signing Gundogan on a free.
Having missed out on Jude Bellingham, who is now set to join Real Madrid, Gundogan’s renewal will help hand City time to identify alternatives to fill the void that the German’s departure will eventually leave.
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