Manchester City are officially losing Ilkay Gundogan to Barcelona – and it has now been claimed the midfielder actually felt much younger than his 32 years in the last months of the season.
City will now move on from the German after seven fantastic years of service.
Gundogan arrived at the Etihad on crutches from Borussia Dortmund, and few could have predicted then just how big an impact he would have.
He leaves the club as a legend, and the tributes today have been heartfelt and plentiful.
In another reality, Gundogan would be staying at City.
It has been suggested that City were reluctant to offer him the ‘2+1’ contract that he wanted, and has now signed at Barcelona.
Seemingly, City had reservations about Gundogan in the long term. But a report has today shared that Gundogan has felt as good as years ago.
Ilkay Gundogan ‘felt more like 25’ at the business end of last season for Manchester City
The Manchester Evening News have today published an interesting report about Gundogan’s free transfer to Barcelona and how it has come about.
There is a part of it that touches on Gundogan’s professionalism.
It mentions Gundogan taking small measures to keep himself in top shape, after suffering three bad injuries in four years.
He is described as ‘meticulous’ with his professionalism
Apparently he would stick to the same warmup routines on the pitch.
Very interestingly, he would also limit his mobile phone use before sleep.
Doing little things like this apparently left Gundogan feeling ‘more like 25 in the final months of the campaign’, according to sources close to the player.
Claim about Ilkay Gundogan just shows Man City are losing a top professional
These claims about Gundogan are fascinating to read.
There has been some talk about the German’s age, and some have wondered if ultimately that is the reason he’s left the Etihad (because City wouldn’t offer a longer contract).
But you could see watching him that he wasn’t playing like a 32-year-old.
You can really imagine Gundogan looking to try and make small improvements just to keep himself in tip-top condition.
It is such a shame he’s leaving.
Hopefully, some of this meticulous professionalism has rubbed off on others around him.
