Ilkay Gundogan made his own fairytale finish at Manchester City after an alternative ending that threatened to be short on the sentiment he had earned.
Gundogan will always be loved at the club and in Manchester for what he has done over the last seven years, from helping out those who are less fortunate in the city without a fuss to scoring the goals to rescue one Premier League title and then captaining Pep Guardiola's side to the Treble. As moments go, it was always going to be hard to top lifting the Champions League for the first time in the country of his parents' birth to write his name further into the record books.
Perhaps it would always have been the point for Gundogan to depart, but his decision was made easier by the reluctance of City to offer what he wanted in the first place. Despite the deep admiration for him as a player and skipper, there was no sign of that in the contract proposed with just a one-year deal with a salary limit imposed to reflect the fact that the German is 32 in an offer that was described as 'pragmatic'.
