Gundogan Returns To Man City From Barcelona

Manchester City have confirmed the return of midfielder Ilkay Gundogan on a free transfer.

The 33-year-old, who left for Barcelona in the summer of 2023, has signed a one-year deal and will wear the No 19 shirt.

During his first spell, Gundogan departed the Premier League a five-time champion, having made 188 appearances and scored 44 goals in the competition.

“When you leave this place like I did last year, you spend a year away, you then start to appreciate the place even more. You realise what you had. You realise how amazing that time was. You realise how big the club is – the best club in the world,” Gundogan told the club’s official website.

“The seven years I had here in my first spell, they played a big role [in my decision to return],” he said.

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“Getting to know this amazing club, getting to know the people working here, behind everything. Of course, also, the friendships that you made and the memories that you had.

“But by saying that, I don’t want it to sound too nostalgic to be honest, because it’s still about competing. It’s still about having that drive. It’s still about trying to be the best version of yourself and that’s all an ambition that I still have, incredibly in myself, even though I’m now 33 years old.

“But I still want to prove myself every day in training sessions and games and still become the best possible version of myself. I still have an incredible sense for winning, for competing and I think the package that you get here, right now today, you can’t find it anywhere else, and that made it for me very, very easy to come back.”