Barcelona’s mainstay has the green light, Gündogan can leave! Will his return to Manchester City happen?

Ilkay Gündogan joined Barcelona only a year ago, and now it looks like one of the best midfielders in the world will leave the Catalan giant. In fact, the LaLiga outfit have given the German international the green light to leave, reportedly heading back to Manchester City.

Ilkay Gündogan has become a legend and an icon of Manchester City over time. However, he left the English big club last July and eventually agreed to a deal in a competition where he had never worked before.

The German international has signed a contract with Barcelona which, according to Transfermarkt, is still valid until the end of June 2026.

The thirty-three-year-old Gelsenkirchen native has played 51 competitive games for Barcelona so far, scoring five goals and fourteen assists. However, he did not feature in the first game of the new LaLiga season against Valencia (2-1), reportedly due to a head injury.

However, shortly before the game, unexpected information appeared in the Spanish media. One of the mainstays of the club wants to leave. Ilkay Gündogan.

As we reported earlier, why exactly Gündogan wants to leave Barcelona is unknown. But so far there has been no talk about his future. According to the Sport newspaper, he wants to leave the club later this month, and until now it was not clear whether the club would allow him to do so.

Gündogan back to Manchester City?

According to the latest information shared on social network X by renowned journalist Fabrizio Romano, Barcelona will not prevent him from leaving.

Gündogan should even leave for free. And what will be his next address? Manchester City are very interested in his services and are already working on the transfer and its specific terms. Pepe Guardiola also wants to have Gündogan back, the Citizens are doing everything to successfully complete the transfer.

Source: Fabrizio Romano – X, Transfermarkt, Sport.es