Manchester City have seen many players leave the club during previous transfer windows.
Throughout Pep Guardiola’s reign at the Etihad Stadium, the Blues have seen a significant number of players wave goodbye to the club either on permanent deals, loan spells or as free agents.
Despite that, the Citizens have still managed to be one of the most successful teams in Europe based on the number of trophies they’ve lifted in recent seasons.
Now, however, one player the Manchester club let go on a free transfer in recent memory has been linked with a big-money move to the Middle East.
Ilkay Gundogan linked with Middle East move
According to a recent report from TV3 (via Sport), Qatari side Al-Sadd have submitted a three-year multi-million-pound offer to Ilkay Gundogan, just one year after he left City as a free agent to join Barcelona on a two-year contract.
The report also adds that the midfielder is considering whether to accept this offer or to use it to get an improved contract at Barcelona.
Gundogan made himself a key player for Barcelona
During his seven years with City, Gundogan found the back of the net 60 times and delivered 38 assists in 304 games, winning many trophies along the way, including the three titles he captained the club to in their Treble-winning campaign.
In his debut season with the Spanish club, the 33-year-old, who Aymeric Laporte recently likened to David Silva, appeared in all but two of Barcelona’s games across all competitions, scoring five goals and delivering 14 assists in 51 appearances.
Having undoubtedly played a key role for the club last season, it seems likely that they would not be eager to see him leave after just one season.
Moving forward, having proved to be still able to be a top player in Europe, Gundogan will now have to decide whether he wants to continue his journey with Barcelona or take the financially superior option of making a move to Qatar.
