It is unanimous: Bring him home.
As soon as news filtered through from Barcelona at the weekend that Ilkay Gundogan’s time at the club seemed over after only one season, Manchester City fans were excited by the prospect of bringing him back to the Etihad Stadium.
And it turns out that they were not the only ones: so were the actual decision-makers at City. Manager Pep Guardiola is happy for a return. And so is the Germany international midfielder.
Whether it actually happens or not depends on a few factors, and dealing with Barcelona never seems to be easy, even when — as in this case — they want to let a player go.
Normally in these situations, one might be concerned about why a big club wants to let a seemingly top player leave 14 months after signing him. Although, Barca being Barca, you can put that down to their inconsistencies rather than Gundogan’s.
Having only arrived as a free agent in June of last year, Gundogan had an impressive first season at Camp Nou. But Barca have brought in Spain international Dani Olmo, seven years younger at age 26, for €60million (£51.3m/$76m) to play in the same position — although he has not yet been registered.
Gundogan could even leave for free due to the complicated situation he finds himself in, although only last week there was a reminder of a similar situation regarding Barca and City.
Marti Perarnau’s latest Guardiola biography, The Pep Revolution: Inside Guardiola’s Manchester City, was published in English and reminded us that Lionel Messi thought he was joining City in 2020, only for the Catalan club’s red tape to get in the way.
So this swift return to Manchester is not done yet by any means, but the intention is there from all sides: City to bring him back, Gundogan to return, Barca to let him go.
So the potential move ticks all the boxes for City and Gundogan.
The only cause for concern is that if City were wary about offering him a two-year contract last year, leading to his departure at the end of his deal, then we are now into what would have been that second season.
Gundogan turns 34 in October. Will the legs be able to keep up with the mind, especially if he is used in that all-action Rodri role? In this case, it feels disingenuous to refer to it as the ‘Rodri role’, given Gundogan was playing there with distinction for City while the Spaniard was still at Villarreal (a club he left in 2018). But his advancing years do change the dynamic slightly.
But Gundogan has just announced his retirement from international duty, which should help.
Then there is City’s transfer policy. Between now and the end of this summer window on August 30, the Premier League champions are aiming to bring in two players: a holding midfielder and a striker, but the idea is not to spend big money nor sign someone with lofty expectations in terms of playing time.
City believe they already have the maximum number of top-level players with pretensions of being in the team every week, and Guardiola does not want to add any more into the equation lest one or more of them become unhappy with a lack of opportunities and go on to destabilise the mood.
At the same time, they realise they need to bring in support for both Rodri and striker Erling Haaland, so they have been scouring the market for targets who are good enough to contribute but won’t expect to play every week, in both positions. And, at the same time, they must be cheap enough to fit into City’s budget.
“We would not have won, having (signed) important players (to be backups to) Erling and Rodri, spending a lot of money for them to play two out of 10 games,” Guardiola said recently. “It’s not sustainable, so we have to have a balance. If we need someone, the price we have to buy (has to be right). Otherwise, it makes no sense.”
City have identified a handful of candidates who they believe could help them up front and, out of nowhere, the possibility of re-signing Gundogan has emerged, providing them with a fairly obvious solution to their midfield search — especially as he largely played a deep position last season, as highlighted below.
Any new signings would essentially be considered the 17th or 18th player in the squad, to step in for Rodri (or Haaland) when needed, or come on in the final 20 to 30 minutes to help City manage matches, whatever the result.
That may be something that appeals to Gundogan — not necessarily because of his age, but because he now finds himself in a difficult situation at Barca. Do not forget, this was supposed to be his way of finishing his career on a high, at a top club, providing a new experience in a much warmer climate than Manchester can offer. But there were even murmurings back in the spring that he had come to realise this move was not going to work out.
A possible return to City, where he can reunite with Guardiola and continue to play at the very highest level, when selected, might be the ideal way to end his career, even if it means less playing time.
There is not just Rodri to consider in that City midfield equation, but Mateo Kovacic as well. That is why City are trying to achieve the difficult task of adding a quality player to their squad without upsetting the dynamic of it. Kovacic has earned himself a place in the midfield hierarchy and could reasonably expect to start plenty of games this season, whether next to Rodri or instead of him.
So it may be that Gundogan does not play anywhere near as much as he did in the final season of his first spell at City, especially with Kevin De Bruyne, Bernardo Silva and Phil Foden in contention in the more advanced midfield slots. But as long as he is aware of that — and the suggestion is that he is — then this is a move that makes sense for all parties.
The supporters would love it, too. As with Rodri, Gundogan was not only a key player in terms of his work in midfield but a scorer of crucial goals, including two in the FA Cup final against Manchester United on the way to delivering the 2022-23 treble, and two on the final day of the previous season to turn around a 2-0 final-day deficit against Aston Villa and pip Liverpool to the title.
While the adage says to ‘Never go back’ — and Gundogan certainly had his fairytale ending at the club by captaining City to that treble — it would certainly be difficult (although not impossible) to top that. But it would be pretty hard to diminish it, too.
GO DEEPER
‘The game is more fluid with him on the pitch’ – why footballers love playing with Gundogan
City have been considering all sorts of factors in their search for new players, including their targets’ command of English, and Guardiola has been praising the “incredible human beings” in his dressing room of late, showing just how happy he is with his squad. The way they can essentially self-regulate any issues particularly pleases the manager.
There would be no doubts about how Gundogan would fit into that environment. Before he left, he was the captain — and a very popular one at that. He might even find himself in the leadership group again, given City’s players usually vote on that once the summer transfer window closes.
This move itself has some way to go before being confirmed, but one thing is for sure: it’s a no-brainer.
(Top photo: Michael Steele/Getty Images)