A behind-the-scenes disagreement between Pep Guardiola and Txiki Begiristain reportedly led to Ilkay Gundogan choosing to join Barcelona rather than sign a new deal at Manchester City.
After spending seven years at the Manchester club, the midfielder chose to join Barcelona as a free agent during the previous summer transfer window rather than sign a new deal with the Citizens.
Having now made 13 appearances for Xavi’s side prior to this afternoon’s La Liga showdown against Real Madrid, some behind-the-scenes details have come to light regarding City’s journey towards getting the 33-year-old to try and stay in Manchester.
Behind-the-scenes disagreement led to Gundogan exit
According to a recent report from El Pais, Begiristain was not keen to offer Gundogan a contract that would have kept him at the Etihad Stadium for the next three years.
The report then adds that Guardiola was eager to keep hold of the midfielder, but by the time he had managed to convince Begiristain to offer Gundogan a significant new deal, Barcelona had already been on the phone to the German and persuaded him to make a move to Spain.
During his time at City, the German international, who initially joined the club back in 2016 from Borussia Dortmund in a deal worth £20m, making him Guardiola’s first signing at the club, made 304 appearances for the Citizens across all competitions, scoring 60 goals, delivering 40 assists and winning numerous trophies.
Towards the end of last season, Guardiola made it clear on several occasions that he wanted to see the German stay at City and sign a new deal, which could have been a message to Begiristain to potentially change his mind about offering Gundogan a longer deal than he had initially wanted to.
Overall, we feel that if more could have been done behind the scenes to keep hold of the midfielder, who had shown on numerous occasions how much of a vital figure he was for the team, then it should have.
