The real reason why Ilkay Gundogan is leaving Barca revealed – the club should be ashamed of it

Signing Ilkay Gundogan last summer looked like a great transfer for Barcelona, because he is a player who not only loves to win, but knows how to do it. The crowd of 17-year-old boys and players who are always unsure of their abilities needed a leader with three CL finals under his belt.

A year has passed and now the club is giving up on Ilkay.

The loudest signal came when Ilkay was angry about the defeat to Real Madrid in the first round. He scored a goal, but the team lost in the last minutes. After the game, he didn’t see any despair in the locker room – the players were upset, but they were looking at their phones and laughing at the comments on the Internet. This is definitely not the Barcelona he dreamed of. “I’m not here to lose matches like this,” he said in an interview after the match.

Instead of supporting Gundogan, the management asked him to apologize to his teammates at the training session and explain that it was normal to be angry after a defeat at Guardiola’s City. However, it looked like Barcelona was not ready for it.

At the same time, the German not only talked, but also acted. It was Gundogan who made the most assists for Barca last season. The player was equally successful playing closer to the attack when needed and taking a position in the middle of the pitch. He was even ready to play as a pivot to benefit the team.

Right now, Gundogan’s level allows him to count on a place in the squad of any club in the world. He does not lose his qualities over the years and adapts his style to his age. From a game point of view, this is a loss, even though Ilkay’s departure will help Barca register Dani Olmo.

So far, no other Barcelona player has been able to provide the stability and class that the German did. In the end, the player is not leaving because he does not fit into Flick’s schemes, the coach has repeatedly said that he wants Gundo to stay.

Of course, Flick couldn’t guarantee him a place in the team, because physically he might not be able to play the German’s football for 90 minutes, but he was a player who could make the difference in important matches.

This is where Ilkay’s biggest move came in, when he decided that he didn’t want to be a problem for the club. While Rafinha, Lenglet and Ansu Fati are still in the team, Gundogan decided that he would leave.

At the same time, to ease Barca’s financial situation, according to Fabrizio Romano, he refused the salary for the next two years, which was due to him under the contract. And this is despite the fact that the club has not been behaving very well lately, showing the player that they no longer want him here.

And Gundogan himself is leaving with his head held high, as he was among the best in Barcelona in many ways: first place in assists, first place in set pieces, first place in expected assists. And this is not a complete list of what Ilkay brought to the team, in addition to being a mental leader and sincerely loving this club.

Gundogan came to work and win, and when he realized that the club had other priorities, he simply left, leaving Barca with the money. At the same time, Laporta keeps building air castles, talking about Nico Williams or Federico Chiesa. Even Gundogan’s departure does not guarantee that Dani Olmo will be able to register, but that is certainly not the German’s problem anymore.

Ilkay returns to where he is appreciated and where he is needed right now. Guardiola welcomes back one of his favorite players. He and Pep came to City together, and perhaps they will leave together as well.