Ilkay Gündogan had recently fallen out of favor at Manchester City. Now he is packing his bags and joining Galatasaray Istanbul.
His contract with ManCity still had a year to run, but Ilkay Gündogan knew himself that he no longer had great prospects under coach Pep Guardiola. The Spaniard preferred Nico and new signing Tijjani Reijnders in central midfield, which probably gave the 34-year-old pause for thought.
Galatasaray sensed an opportunity and made an effort to sign the former German international, who has Turkish roots—ultimately with success. The Istanbul club quickly reached an agreement with City and finally convinced Gündogan to move to the metropolis on the Bosporus. Galatasaray signed the former captain of the German national team, who signed a contract until 2027, on a free transfer. “It’s a proud day for me and my family,” Gündogan said upon his arrival at the airport.
Farewell to Manchester after 358 competitive games
ManCity’s 2022 championship hero had only returned to the Skyblues from FC Barcelona last summer, having previously played for them between 2016 and 2023. The Gelsenkirchen native has currently played 358 competitive games for City (65 goals, 47 assists).
After spells in Germany with 1. FC Nürnberg and Borussia Dortmund, as well as Manchester City and FC Barcelona, Galatasaray will now be the fifth top-flight club for the 82-time German international (19 goals) to play for. In Istanbul, he will be reunited with his former national teammate Leroy Sané, who moved from FC Bayern to Galatasaray a few weeks ago. “Sané and I are good friends. We play well together,” said the defensive midfielder.
In addition to Sané, the traditional Turkish club also made headlines this summer with the permanent signing of star striker Victor Osimhen and the transfers of Ismail Jacobs (AS Monaco) and Wilfried Singo (AS Monaco).
