Pep Guardiola indicated that Ilkay Gundogan will remain as a Manchester City player next season - unless he tells the club he wants to go. There was talk this week that the Germany international was set to go this summer, with a year left on his contract, and with City keen to cash in before he is available on a free transfer next year.
That talk was fuelled by the fact that Gundogan was spotted at the private jet terminal at Manchester Airport on Monday, when the players had been handed two days off. The rumour was that he was heading to Madrid, as Real have expressed an interest in the midfielder in the past.
But that prompted a reply from Gundogan and his partner, revealing they had got married in secret and were flying out on a brief honeymoon, to Copenhagen. Gundogan’s message did not make his future any clearer, however, although it is thought there will be talks on his future once the season is over.
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Guardiola made it plain that he wants Gundogan, who was his first signing as City manager - for a bargain £20million - to stay at the club. And he said that he has been given no indication that the player wants to go.
“He’s getting married, congrats for that,” said Guardiola. “He had permission to go to Denmark, I congratulate him.
“I want him next season here, there’s no intention for him not to be here. Now he’s married he might want a new experience. All the great Twitter accounts say he’s going to leave but I didn’t know it. That’s the situation right now.”
City rarely offer contracts greater than one year to players on the wrong side of 30, and that could be the rub with Gundogan - if he is not offered more security he would want to go, and the Blues do not stand in the way of any player who expresses a desire to leave, especially if it means they can harvest a fee for someone just a year away from leaving on a free.
Guardiola constantly makes it plain that he does not have the final say on contracts, but his desire to see Gundogan in sky blue next season carries plenty of weight.
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