Ilkay Gundogan Could Return to Manchester City

Ilkay Gundogan is the subject of Manchester City’s exploration to bring him back to the club. The 33-year-old midfielder left City for Barcelona in 2023 on a free transfer after leading Pep Guardiola’s side to a historic Treble. However, Barcelona’s well-known financial struggles have created obstacles in registering new players including recent signing Dani Olmo. To ease these issues, the club may need to offload a high earner like Gundogan.

Meanwhile, City are facing early-season difficulties including the £81 million departure of forward Julian Alvarez to Atletico Madrid and a major injury to Norwegian winger Oscar Bobb, who could be out for four months. Re-signing Gundogan could provide a short-term solution, as he is already familiar with Guardiola’s system and wouldn’t need time to adjust.

Guardiola was reluctant to let Ilkay Gundogan leave last year, but the club couldn’t agree on the contract length the German midfielder desired. Gundogan initially joined City from Borussia Dortmund in 2016 for a reported £20 million. Over seven years, he made 304 appearances, scoring 60 goals and won 14 trophies including five Premier League titles, a Champions League, two FA Cups, four Carabao Cups and two Community Shields.

Barcelona’s current financial issues stem from La Liga’s strict economic rules, designed to ensure the sustainability of the competition. These rules impose a ‘squad cost limit,’ which restricts clubs from spending more on their playing squad than they earn in a season. This limit is calculated by deducting non-sporting expenses such as salaries and agent fees from projected revenues.

If a club’s wage bill exceeds its squad cost limit, it can’t register all its players for La Liga. This situation has left Barcelona unable to register Olmo, prompting the potential need to sell Gundogan to free up financial space.