Nedum Onuoha has suggested that Manchester City should be thankful Ilkay Gundogan has not joined another Premier League side.
It was announced on Monday morning that the midfielder will be joining Barcelona as a free agent after deciding to not sign a new deal with the Citizens amid other transfer links with Arsenal, Paris Saint-Germain and clubs in Saudi Arabia.
This has since led to one pundit and former City player sharing his thoughts on Gundogan’s exit.
Onuoha pleased Gundogan chose to join Barcelona
Speaking in a recent video on the ESPN FC YouTube channel, Onuoha had this to say on the matter.
He said: “If he was good enough to win those three trophies and to play the games he played this season, then in my mind he’s good enough to do it again for another year but I’m just glad that he’s gone to Barcelona and he’s not stayed in England because I think he would’ve had a huge impact if he would’ve stayed in the Premier League.”
With seven seasons under his belt at the Etihad Stadium, the 32-year-old racked up 304 appearances for City across all competitions, scoring 60 goals, providing 40 assists and winning numerous trophies.
Across his final season with the Citizens, the German scored 11 goals in 51 appearances, including both goals in the 2-1 win over Manchester United in the FA Cup final.
Having also scored crucial goals against Everton and Leeds United in the latter stage of the Premier League campaign to help City win their fifth title in six years, this further backs up Onuoha’s point about Gundogan having the ability to have a big impact for any side in the league.
While it will certainly be a blow for City to lose such a significant player, they can be thankful that they haven’t strengthened another one of their top-flight sides in doing so and may only have come up against their former captain if they meet Barcelona in Europe at some point.
