Ilkay Gundogan Transfer News & Odds

Ilkay Gundogan has had the best season of his career this year, with the German midfielder ending the 2022/23 campaign as a treble-winner with Manchester City.

Gundogan made 31 appearances as Manchester City won a seventh Premier League title, scored a brace as they also won the FA Cup, and lifted City’s first European trophy in over 50 years as the club won their first-ever Champions League trophy.

The German midfielder has played a key role in the success of one of this generation’s most dominant club football sides, and so all that he has achieved in tandem with the fact that his contract is expiring at the end of this month means that there is a question that has to be asked - does it make sense for Gundogan to now make the move away from City to another club?

The 32-year-old would certainly have no shortage of offers from interested parties, and so therefore, here we take a quick look at some of the clubs that he has been most heavily linked with…

The team that Gundogan has been most heavily linked with a move to is Barcelona, with the recently crowned La Liga champions seeing Gundogan as a useful and necessary addition.

Firstly, and probably most crucially, Gundogan would be joining the club as a free agent, therefore negating a hefty transfer fee that Barcelona would otherwise find hard to afford. The club’s financial troubles are well-documented, and so Bosman transfers are likely to be the norm for the Blaugrana this summer.

Furthermore, with club icon Sergio Busquets leaving this summer alongside a rumoured Franck Kessie exit, it means that at this moment in time, Frenkie de Jong would be the club’s only senior midfielder, with the trio of Gavi, Pedri and Pablo Torre all currently under 21 years of age. Gundogan’s arrival would add experience and leadership to what is currently a predominantly young and inexperienced Barcelona midfield, and he would almost certainly be a very good signing for the club.

Of course, the German may just choose to stay at the club where he has won 12 major honours to date.

And why wouldn’t he? This Manchester City side are not going to slow down and stop doing what they are doing any time soon, and so if Gundogan wanted to further add to his personal medal haul, then a stay at the Etihad Stadium would guarantee that and be the best career move for him.

Gundogan’s relationships with everyone at the club, from his teammates to manager and club executives, are fantastic and so a stay at Manchester City, especially considering the German midfielder’s contributions to the club’s success, would surely be fairly easy to negotiate and a smart move for both parties.

But Gundogan has also been linked with a move to this year’s Premier League runners-up, Arsenal.

The Gunners ultimately ended up finishing five points behind the eventual champions, with signings from City in Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko important parts of their surprise title challenge. And so might they add another City player to their squad for next season in Ilkay Gundogan?

The Gunners’ need for serious squad depth in midfield and defence was exposed this year as their title charge fell off at the business end of the season, and so not surprisingly, they have already been linked with many players. Gundogan’s quality, leadership and trophy-winning experience would be a great addition to Mikel Arteta’s young team, who really would have benefitted from those qualities during the title run-in.

With Granit Xhaka likely to leave the club this summer, and both Jorginho and Mohamed Elneny having just a year left on their contracts, Arsenal need incomings in midfield this summer. Ilkay Gundogan would be a fantastic solution to that problem, and with a move to an Arsenal side that will be going for the title again next season, he would have the chance of writing his name into the folklore of yet another Premier League club.

But could Gundogan be playing his football in the Middle East next season instead of making a move to another top European team?

It's a transfer link that will become increasingly common this summer as the Saudi Pro League looks to boost its viewership and standing by bringing in some of the biggest names in world football. The league made Cristian Ronaldo their first big-name signing when the Portuguese icon joined Al-Nassr, and that was followed up by the recent news that Karim Benzema would be joining Al-Ittihad. Both of these deals were concluded for eye-watering sums of money and many more deals of a similar nature are expected to be completed this summer, and Gundogan is one player who could get in on that act.

At 32 years of age, he is no spring chicken. So while he could still play at the top level of European football for a few more years, why would he? He has won the biggest trophy of them all in the Champions League alongside league titles in two countries and the respective domestic trophies in both of those countries. So instead of continuing to play top-level European football when he has already achieved so much there, going for one last big payday before his eventual retirement is a move that could appeal to the midfielder.

Currently, it is not clear what Saudi club the German may join but it is thought that Al-Hilal are the current frontrunners for his signature. According to media outlet Foot Mercato, Gundogan has already received an offer from the league. Money is a very powerful thing, so will Gundogan choose to chase it and therefore make the move to Saudi Arabia?

This summer is shaping up to be a busy one for the French champions already, especially with the announcement in recent days that Kylian Mbappe reportedly will not extend his contract at the club and could therefore become a free agent next summer.

Alongside that major headache, both Lionel Messi and Sergio Ramos will be leaving the Parisian side this summer. Therefore, big incomings are surely to be expected at the Parc des Princes this summer, and Gundogan could be one of them. His arrival would be an upgrade on PSG’S current crop of midfielders, which includes players like Danilo Pereira, Renato Sanches and Carlos Soler. Gundogan would raise the level of what is a distinctly average midfield, and that alongside the correct additions in other areas, would go a long way in helping PSG in their quest for the Champions League.

A move to Ligue 1 is also a chance for Gundogan to add a league title from yet another European top-5 league to his collection, while he would also be doing all this working under the highly-rated Julian Nagelsmann, who has been heavily linked with a move to the club for next season.

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