FC Barcelona Have ‘Yes’ From Manchester City Ace, Despite Reports

FC Barcelona have a ‘yes’ from one of the leading stars of Manchester City’s run to the Champions League final, who will still join them this summer according to AS and SPORT amid English reports he is set to extend at the Etihad.

Ilkay Gundogan is City’s captain but becomes a free agent on June 30. Since early 2023, it has been taken for granted that the German international will take on a new challenge in Catalonia with SPORT reporting in April that he had already agreed to join Xavi Hernandez’s blossoming sporting project.

With the dust settling on City’s 4-0 thrashing of Real Madrid on Wednesday, however, which guaranteed a 5-1 aggregate win in the Champions League semi-finals and passage to the last dance in Istanbul against Inter Milan next month, The Times reported that Gundogan was “edging towards committing his future” to City and penning a long-term deal.

In Spain, however, AS‘ Barca correspondent Javi Miguel, who is close to Xavi’s environment, tweeted on Sunday that the Blaugrana are “very calm” about the situation with Gundogan.

“Xavi has the player’s ‘YES’. Three seasons and a transcendental role in the team,” Miguel added.

At SPORT, they transmit a similar message that Barca trust in Gundogan’s word after striking a “verbal agreement for three years with a reduction of his current salary”.

City are believed to currently pay Gundogan €10 million ($10.8 million) a season and have offered him the chance to earn the same fee for the next two years according to The Times.

Though Barca can’t stump up this amount, they can provide him the platform to play in the elite for at least three terms and a new challenge where he could add silverware to his resume in a different country.

If Barca were to run into extra cash by some chance, they would like to land Gundogan’s midfielder partner Bernardo Silva too.

As the Portuguese doesn’t become a free agent until 2025, though, Barca would have to hand over a fee ranging between €80-100 million ($86-108 million) to bring him to La Liga.